Pandemonium in McCurtain

By John Block
Staff Reporter
The McCurtain basketball teams swept the district championships on Feb. 12. Both teams defeated Battiest - the girls won 61-29 and the boys won 48-46.
McCurtain was the host of the Class B Area IV District Seven Tournament. Teams included were McCurtain, Bokoshe, Battiest and Cameron.
McCurtain girls received a bye in the first round due to Bokoshe not having a girls team. McCurtain boys opened district play with a 104-33 victory over Bokoshe on Feb. 11. Ben Bond led the team in scoring with 23.
The district championship game on Feb. 12 was packed with fans as the bleachers were full.
McCurtain girls started out firing on all cylinders as they hit six threes in the first half, including three from Bailey Bennett. McCurtain held a comfortable lead at halftime 37-21. But Battiest came out of the locker room fired up and scored the first five points of the second half to make the game 37-26. McCurtain would then not allow a point in the quarter and score 11. McCurtain went on to win 61-29.  This is the seniors fourth district championship and they are 87-23 in their four-year career and have a 79 percent winning percentage.
“I am extremely happy for these seniors. Winning four district championships in a row is a hard thing to do,” Head Coach Bryan Schlekeway said.
McCurtain boys started the game sluggish against Battiest. Head Coach Jason Ward called his first time out, one minute and 13 seconds into the game as his team was down 7-1. Coach Ward fired his team up and made the necessary adjustments as McCurtain led 10-7 at the end of the first quarter. The game was tied at 21 at halftime.
The second half did not start how the Bulldogs would have liked as Coach Ward used a timeout with only 55 seconds being played in the quarter and Battiest started the quarter on a 7-0 run.
McCurtain would quickly tie it up and take a 38-33 lead after three quarters.
“It was huge for us to battle back after we were down in the third quarter. This team always keeps fighting. They always look for a way to win in the end,” Ward said.
But Battiest would not go down without a fight as they held a 45-41 lead with one minute remaining in the game. Senior Kaden Dill knocked down a deep three with 55 seconds remaining to put the Bulldogs within one. Battiest would then make one free throw and Clayne Honeycutt got a putback layup to tie the game with 20 seconds remaining.
Battiest drove to the basket but Dill and Brayden Ward met him at the basket to get the block. Bond got the rebound with five seconds remaining and threw an outlet pass to Luke Sandlin.
Sandlin dribbled to the corner and put up a floater that went off the backboard and in as the buzzer sounded. Sandlin hit the game-winning shot to give the Bulldogs a 48-46 victory over Battiest. His teammates surrounded him in excitement and joy. The crowd went berserk as the team had just won the district championship.
“It was amazing. After the shot went in everybody started surrounding me in the celebration. It was a great feeling to get this win for the great crowd that cheered us on to victory,” Sandlin said.

Staff photo by John Block

Luke Sandlin (#22) shoots the game-winning shot.