Wilburton – It took an extra four minutes to decide the Area IV championship in front of a capacity crowd at Wilburton High School on Friday night. The Colbert Lady Leopards made 9-of-11 free throws in the extra period to defeat the Oktaha Lady Tigers, 47-44, and advance to the Class 2A State Tournament.
Colbert (25-4) trailed by five at halftime, but used a strong third quarter to regain momentum. The Lady Leopards keyed on a pair of three-pointers by Bailee Weger and outscored the Lady Tigers 16-5 to take a six-point lead into the fourth quarter.
But Oktaha answered with great defense in the final period of regulation and shut Colbert down to just two points in the stanza. With eight Oktaha points, the score was tied at 36 apiece and needed extra time.
Weger and Darian Bradford had 12 points each for Colbert. Katherine Hair scored 10 points; eight of them came at the free throw line (on 8-of-9 shooting) and six were in overtime.
Lanessa Grayson and Jaylie Roper paced Oktaha (26-2) with 13 points.
Oktaha will face Preston in the consolation bracket final Saturday night at 6:30 with one more chance to move on to the state round of the playoffs.