Seiling girls continue dominant dynasty with latest Class A championship win
OKLAHOMA CITY - Building dynasties take time and they start early, as Kenly Gore pointed out in a midst of a celebration that's become all too familiar for Seiling's Lady Wildcats basketball team.
They've grown a defense over the last decade and it showed profoundly in a 64-46 win over Oklahoma Bible Academy that made it a record five consecutive Class A state titles Saturday afternoon at historic Jim Norick Arena on the Oklahoma City Fairgrounds. Seiling has also won titles in seven of its past nine seasons.
"This group of girls have played together since we were in third grade," said Gore, the 5-foot-7 senior. "And our main focus as little girls is the defensive side, so it gets instilled in us. And so I'd say our defense defines our team, and our mental toughness and our physical ability to be tougher than the other team.
"When our first shots fall, our defense feeds off it."
They came into this contest having shut out Quinton over the entire fourth quarter of Friday's 55-36 semifinal win that saw a 22-6 margin on points off turnovers. Those numbers trended upward on Saturday.
Sixteen steals, seven by the Cameron University-bound Gore, sparked a dizzying 27-2 difference in points off turnovers. Some of that became the 21-6 edge in points beyond the arc and the balanced touch from Braci Nyberg, who led the Wildcats (26-3) and all scorers with 28 points.
Three turnovers on each of Oklahoma Bible's first possessions quickly set the tone. Keirsten Briggs and Gore each had one steal and the Wildcats were off to a 7-0 lead before OBA's Karson Jenkins hit inside at the 6:06 mark.
The lead would extend to nine at one point in the quarter, 16-7.
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Gore had four steals in the first half and the points off turnovers margin was 14-0. She also finished with 12 points, including three 3s, and Nyberg's scoring touch fed off the defense.
Nyberg, a 5-7 senior averaging 18.3 points coming into the tournament and is bound for Southern Nazarene University, turned a drive into a three-point play; then drained a 3 off the left wing for a 28-15 lead with 6:10 to go in the half.
Nyberg went to the break with 14 points and repeated that in the second half, finishing with a game-high 28 points.
"We're going to come out and play better defense, and that's what sets us apart from other teams," Nyberg said. "All of what we do and do successfully starts from how we play defensively."
The only significant push of the game for OBA (27-4) came on a 8-0 surge following a time out, and again it was Jenkins with half of those points to make it a 28-23 difference with 3:52 to go until half. Seiling took a time out and leveled things out on the way to a 34-25 advantage at the half.
The Wildcats came out and crushed OBA's hopes to begin the third, again starting with a 7-0 start including a 3 by Gore.
It was part of a push joined by Nyberg and Kadence Griffin, which turned the contest into a 20-point advantage at 50-30 with 3:30 to go in the third. The biggest margin was 62-39 early in the fourth.
The 5-11 Jenkins had 17 points for OBA. Conley Cayot, a 5-10 junior who came in leading the team at 17.7 points a game, was held to 11 points but nine of those in the second half.
All of that was far from enough to overcome the five-time champs.
"It's about the girls and how hard they work and they're all just unselfish," said Seiling coach Brady Hamar.. "They listen to their coaches and they're all good examples."
Photos by Michael Kinney
-- Mike Kays | @SBLiveOK
