Eagles pick up 2 tourney wins

Both Oran High School girls basketball teams competed in the Scott-Mississippi Conference tournament last night at Delta and both came away victorious.  The junior varsity, seeded second, defeated the third-seeded Kelly Hawks 37-23 and the first-seeded varsity squad defeated the No. 4 seed Chaffee Lady Devils by a score of 54-37.

Playing their first game in a month, the jv took the court first and led by 6 after one, 10-4.  They were able to stretch the lead each quarter and pick up the 14 point win.

Coach Ethan Evans had this to say, "The girls looked a little rusty at the beginning since we haven't played in almost a month. After that, they settled down and took good shots offensively and played good defense."

Katelyn Streeter led a balanced Eagles scoring attack with 11, including a trey.  Taylor Lowes had 10 points and was 2-2 from the line.  Savannah Below added 7 including a three-pointer for Oran's first points of the night. Heather Gosche scored 6 and Paige Bradley was 3 of 4 from the line for her points.

The Eagles were only 5 of 12 from the charity stripe for 42%.

The junior varsity improved to 4-0 on the season and will face No. 1 seed East Prairie in tonight's championship game at 5:30 pm.

When the varsity took the floor last night they not only had to battle the Devils but also the flu bug (or something close to it).  Oran started slow and never really put the game away until late but managed a 17 point win.

Coach Evans said, "Chaffee came in with a good game plan to slow us down and it worked. The girls weren't up to speed tonight and some sickness had a little to do with that. Take nothing away from Chaffee they played us tough. Hopefully, we will be ready to go in the championship game. "

Leah Cauble led all scorers with 21; she hit 2 three's, 5 rebounds and 5 steals.  Jessie Long had 13 points and 6 steals.  Kaylee Payne was the third Eagle to reach double-digits with 11.  She had also had 6 steals, 5 rebounds and 4 assists.

Brianna Stause hit 2 treys for her 6 points.  Stause added 5 steals and 4 assists.  Claire Ramsey hit a three-pointer.  Kenzie Graviett and Madison Ramsey both played but neither scored.

Oran shot 35% from three (8-23) and 54% from two (13-24).  At the line, they were 4-6 for 67%.

The varsity, the tournament's defending champions, improved to 13-0 and will face the third-seeded Scott County Central Bravettes in the title game at 8:30.