Carl Albert girls, Deer Creek boys learn from past mistakes

First off, hope you had a Happy Valentine’s Day. I did what I know best – covered basketball. Second, I broke my own rule Monday night, and I’m breaking it again.

I never want to see the same game twice in one season. There are so many good games out there that I hate to see the same teams play. But I did it Monday with Deer Creek and Carl Albert.

And you know what? Knowing what happened in the first game gave me a lot more insight into how the second game turned out.

Both the Carl Albert girls and Deer Creek boys learned from the meeting two weeks ago and figured out what to do to earn the victory.

Carl Albert 47, Deer Creek 44 (Girls)

The Titans had a 16-point lead in the first matchup. Monday night CA was up 13-3 and then it happened. The Antlers made a run. But instead of looking dumbfounded, the Titans fought back, and it led to a fun fourth quarter.

In the end, it was the Titans defense (most notably Whitney Robinson and Toni Cheadle) that helped Tim Price’s girls to the win.

CA was up eight at halftime, but Deer Creek had erased that by the end of the third quarter. There were four lead changes in the fourth quarter. The Antlers had two possessions in the final 11 seconds to try to tie it but could not get a shot off.

Great to see Ashley Gibson back for the Antlers. She was back to her normal self in the second half and finished with 15 points. You add Gibson with Jalyn Jackson and then sprinkle in Alexa Adair, this team is going to make a run in the next couple of weeks.

This was a break out game for Cheadle. Well, at least for when I’ve seen her. Price told me she still has a lot to learn on the offensive side of the ball, but she is a force on defense. Why? Because she can play up top in a 1-3-1 like she did a lot Monday and she has the size to play the post.

And Robinson, well, I’ve never seen someone love playing defense so much. It appeared DC was trying to get Adair open for a three, but Robinson would not let it happen in the final seconds.