Tournament of Champions game blog

The final day of the 45th Tournament of Champions boys basketball tournament was entertaining, even though the tournament’s biggest blowout came in the finals as Putnam City routed Tulsa Washington Wednesday night at the Tulsa Expo Square Pavilion. Here are the final results. Updates and other thoughts below:

Monday’s results
Game 1: Tulsa Memorial 47, Garber 33
Game 2: Putnam City 72, Roff 50
Game 3: Tulsa Washington 57, Pawnee 39
Game 4: Sequoyah-Tahlequah 65, Muskogee 63

Tuesday’s results
Game 5: Garber 51, Roff 48
Game 6: Muskogee 73, Pawnee 64
Game 7: Putnam City 63, Tulsa Memorial 62
Game 8: Tulsa Washington 72, Sequoyah-Tahlequah 55

Wednesday’s results
Seventh place: Pawnee 56, Roff 39
Consolation: Muskogee 63, Garber 54
Third place: Tulsa Memorial 57, Sequoyah-Tahlequah 51
Championship: Putnam City 70, Tulsa Washington 47

Wednesday updates

Putnam City-Tulsa Washington

11 p.m.: The Pirates coast to the title, 70-47. Dominique Raney finished with 25 points and Tre Payne had 21. Tharone Chilton led Tulsa Washington with 21 points.

9:41 p.m.: For all the drama PC’s semifinal game against Tulsa Memorial had, the final is lacking it. Raney took it slow in the second, adding four more points for 16 at the half. PC sophomore Tre Payne has 11 points and the Pirates hold a 35-18 lead at the half. Tharone Chilton has seven points to lead the Hornets. Freshman Juwan Parker has yet to score.

9:13 p.m.: Dominique Raney put together his highlight reel in the first quarter with 12 points as Putnam City took a 20-4 lead after one quarter. Raney hit two 3s, had a driving scoop layup and a big dunk on an alley-oop pass from Willie Lester.

Sequoyah-Tahlequah vs. Tulsa Memorial

8:52 p.m.: A few point totals from the last game… C.J. Wells led the Chargers with 16 points. Cameron Downing had 14, but only two after halftime. Travis Sanders and Terran Pettit had 14 apiece for the Indians.

8:37 p.m.: Memorial was able to make some free throws and ST couldn’t get some key shots to go down in the final minutes as the Chargers took third place, 57-51.

8:13 p.m.: Back-and-fourth ballgame. Memorial up 43-42 with 4:50 to play. After a strong first half, ST’s zone defense has been able to limit Cameron Downing inside for the Chargers.

7:52 p.m.: When ST is hitting its outside shots, the Indians can play with anybody. Bad news for Memorial, they’re hitting their outside shots. Terran Pettit is knocking down 3s from NBA range (literally, there’s still a pro 3-point line on the court left over from when the D-league 66ers played here.) Pettit has eight quick points in the third quarter as ST has turned a three-point deficit into a 37-35 lead in the opening minutes of the second half.

4 p.m.: A quick roundup of the seventh-place and consolation games… Pawnee found its way to the free throw line in the fourth quarter to pull away from Roff for a 56-39 win. The Black Bears led 35-33 entering the fourth quarter. Tate Beer led the way with 11 free throws in the fourth to finish with 20 points. Kyle Klaus had 14 and Desmond McCosar added 11. Dylan Lemley led Roff with 14.

In the consolation final, Oren Faulk scored all 12 of his points in the second half as Muskogee held off a charge from Garber. The game was tied early in the fourth quarter before the Roughers finally took over. In the last two games, Faulk has 29 second-half points, but has been scoreless in the first halves. Senior point guard Jerome Beasley finished with 12 points as well, which is a good sign for the Roughers, who are trying to develop a third scoring option. For Garber, Hayden Vencl had 15 points and Tyler Miller had 14.

Tuesday updates

Tulsa Washington vs. Sequoyah-Tahlequah

10:28 p.m.: ST made a run to get within five, but TW put it away, finishing it off with a flurry in a 72-55 win.

10:10 p.m.: Freshman Juwan Parker came alive for five of his nine points in the third as TW extended its lead to 52-39 entering the final period.

9:52 p.m.: Tulsa Washington fell behind early but put a run together to take a 36-26 halftime lead. When ST is making shots, they can play with anybody, but TW’s athletic ability took ver late in the first half.

Putnam City-Tulsa Memorial

Postgame thoughts: Dominique Raney hit the big shot — a few of them, actually — but Brian Brown would get my vote for MVP. He was working hard all night. Saved the offense when nothing was working in the first half, and played tough D on Memorial forward Cameron Downing.

Tre Payne continues to show up at crunch time. A crucial steal late in the game, and a big 3 early in the fourth quarter as PC was making its run. He’s only a sophomore, but he’s a difference-maker. He doesn’t always put up big numbers, but he’s always finding ways to impact the game.

Interestingly, 6-foot-10 center Zech Smith was the first option on the final play, and Raney was the second option. But when Smith didn’t come free off a low-block screen, they gave the ball to Raney and let him create. Worked out pretty well.

8:49 p.m.: PC’s Dominique Raney broke away from a double-team as he nearly had the ball stripped and hit a turnaround jumper from 15 feet at the buzzer to give the Pirates a 63-62 win over Tulsa Memorial. Raney took his time finding his shot, but hit a pair of big 3-pointers before the game-winner as PC erased a 10-point deficit in the fourth quarter. Raney finished with 19 points.

8:25 p.m.: PC slowly cutting into the lead. It’s 48-46 Memorial with 5:13 left.

8:15 p.m.: After PC cut the deficit to five, a couple of late buckets help Memorial get its lead back up to 46-37 entering the fourth quarter. PC’s energy has been much better, but shots aren’t falling any more frequently.

7:43 p.m.: Brian Brown is about the only PC player who is playing consistently well so far. Coach A.D. Burtschi has been talking to his players a lot about leadership and moving to the next play. The Pirates seem to be out of it right now, trailing 31-17 at the half.

Halftime entertainment is some sort of junior-high boxing display. Not actual fights, just sparring. While most of the boxers are teens, there’s one girl that can’t be more than about eight. Don’t let the pink shoes fool you, she’s tough. This is certainly better than last night’s free throw shooting contest, for which no score nor a winner were announced.

7:40 p.m.: Memorial has opened up a 28-15 lead with 1:13 left in the half. Memorial is doing a good job of running its offense and taking advantage of opportunities in transition. PC, particularly Dominique Raney, is struggling from the floor, and it is getting out of control when it tries to pick up the pace against Memorials press.

7:25 p.m.: Adrien Anderson hit a 15-footer at the first-quarter buzzer to give Tulsa Memorial a 14-10 lead. Neither team has shot the ball that well so far. The pace of play is faster than I expected, too. Memorial would probably prefer a 20-18 halftime score, but we’re on pace for something more to the Pirates’ liking. Still, it’s the Chargers in the lead.

PC is using a lot of zone and matchup defensive looks to try to defend 6-foot-9 Cameron Downing, who has three points so far. PC’s 6-foot-4 Brian Brown has been the best defensive option on the big guy.