Eubank’s buzzer beater lifts PHS

Purcell and Washington will face a four-hour round trip driving marathon to play each other Friday at the Enid High School gym for a ticket to State.

The two schools are about 11 minutes apart but will have a long road trip thanks to scheduling.

The winner of the game Friday at 8 p.m. will advance to State, while the loser will play the winner of the consolation bracket on Saturday night.

Lincoln Eubank hit a buzzerbeating trey to lift Purcell to a 47-44 victory in the weather-delayed Regional finals Tuesday night at Meeker.

Eubank, Malachi Evans and Hayden Ice all finished in double figures for Purcell in the victory that hiked the Dragons’ record to 22-3 on the season.

Evans led the Dragons and all scorers in the game with 19 points followed by Eubank with 13 and Ice with a dozen.

Nate Willis, who finished with 10 assists, got the biggest one with 2.4 seconds left in regulation when Purcell and Sequoyah-Claremore were deadlocked at 44 apiece.

“We had a play drawn up,” head coach Roger Raper said. “Nate passed to Lincoln who found an open spot in the opposite corner and knocked down the winning shot as time expired.

“I’m very proud of this team and their will to win. Now we are one game away from playing in the State tournament. We will need to continue to play tough defense as we have all year,” the coach said.

Raper said the scouting report on Sequoyah-Claremore was crystal clear.

“They can shoot the ball from the perimeter so our defense had to be very tight,” Raper said. “I was extremely pleased with how we played defensively although they hit some threes, we made them shoot from a very deep range.

“We showed incredible grit to get the job done against a team that was 24-1 coming in,” he said.

Luther pinned a 62-50 loss on David Sikes’ Dragons sending them into the consolation bracket in the Area tournament.

Junior KK Eck and freshman Kenna Esparza both finished in double figures with 12 and 11 respectively to pace the offense.

Purcell will play Alva at the Enid High School gym at 6:30 Thursday night.

“It was a big game,” Sikes said. “We struggled early then settled down. But throughout the night we just turned the ball over too much.

“The girls played hard and aggressive but we just played a little too frantic,” Sikes continued. “It’s a great learning experience and I know we will continue to improve.”

Purcell will take a 16-9 record into the Area tournament.