GIRLS BASKETBALL: Inola ends FTG's 19-year streak, claims first state tournament berth since 1996

Mar. 3—STROUD — Brynna Wiginton felt the pressure coming from all around her.

The hopes of her peers and the Inola conglomerate at the Stroud Route 66 Coliseum rested squarely on the junior's shoulders. With 14 seconds remaining, Wiginton had a chance to help the Lady Longhorns accomplish something historic in more ways than one.

She did not squander the opportunity.

The 5-foot-7 guard delivered in a big way, knocking down a pair of game-clinching free throws to send sixth-ranked Inola to its first state tournament berth since 1996 with a 57-51 overtime victory over No. 4 Fort Gibson in the Class 4A Area IV area consolation championship Saturday night. The win ended the Lady Tigers' impressive streak of 19-consecutive state tournament appearances, for they hadn't missed one since 2004.

The Lady Longhorns also avenged their area championship loss to Fort Gibson in 2023, which ended up being the catalyst for their season-ending overtime loss to Kingfisher the following day.

They will play No. 16 Douglass in the Class 4A state quarterfinals at 10:30 a.m. Thursday at Jim Norick Arena in Oklahoma City. The Lady Trojans upset No. 3 Glenpool and No. 6 Anadarko to reach the state tournament for the first time since 2012.

"We were determined to do that (end the 19-year streak)," said Wiginton, who went 6-of-6 at the free-throw line in overtime and finished with 20 points and 3 rebounds. "They took it from us last year, so we were ready to take it from them this year. I was just proud of us for overcoming everything we have together — even through the rough time of going into overtime and still being able to pull it out together. We felt the pressure, but we knew we could do it.

"No matter what, we could do it if we worked together."

Inola (25-4) took control early with the first 6 points of the opening quarter, and Fort Gibson never could close the gap as the Lady Longhorns took a 23-13 lead into halftime thanks to 13 points from Miller Weast.

Wiginton closed the second period with a 3-pointer and carried the momentum from that shot into the second half with another 3 and a 2-point field goal to open the third, using her personal 8-0 run to push the lead to 28-13. She later scored the final points of the frame with a pair of free throws, giving Inola a comfortable 37-24 lead with eight minutes remaining.

Wiginton and Weast helped maintain that advantage until the midway point of the fourth quarter, with both answering Lady Tiger baskets as the spread held steady at 41-29.

However, Fort Gibson didn't make ending its streak easy.

A layup from Kashae Brown with 3:54 remaining sparked an unfathomable 15-3 run that saw the Lady Tigers take a 44-42 lead after a Laynee Stanley 3-pointer at the 0:58 mark. Luckily for Inola, Weast's floating layup with 47 seconds remaining evened the score and ultimately kept its hopes alive by forcing overtime.

"Usually when that happens, the team that was ahead and lost the lead kind of folds," Lady Longhorns coach Travis Wheeler said. "That's something we were talking about in between (the fourth quarter and overtime) — being positive. We gotta be positive and say positive things, like, 'Hey, we're all right. Let's go win this thing in overtime. Let's go get a stop, and if we get a chance, let's go score. If we get another stop, then let's go take care of business.'

"They were in a bad spot, and they brought themselves out of it."

The shot from Weast was also the team's final field goal of the game.

Inola used its free-throw shooting prowess to clinch the momentous victory in the extra period, making 12-consecutive attempts from the line before finishing with a 13-of-14 overtime mark and 19-of-23 overall.

Wiginton accounted for half of those makes in the additional four minutes, converting at the 3:24, 1:14 and 0:14 marks. Weast made four, her penultimate trip to the line increasing the lead to 54-51 with 34 seconds remaining and setting the stage for Wiginton's deciding attempts 20 seconds later.

Weast finished with a game-high 22 points and 4 rebounds while Addison Mootry, who gave the Lady Longhorns a 50-47 edge from the line with 2:14 remaining, added 10 points and a team-high 7 boards.

"That's huge because that's been our achilles heel," Wheeler said of his team's free-throw shooting prowess. "Last year, I don't remember the exact number, but we missed a lot in a row — like nine. They stepped up and showed the maturity of how they've come along, and they just decided we're going to make this happen."

Brown paced Fort Gibson with 16 points and 8 rebounds, including five of its 15 offensive boards. Miley Wafford, who hit a 3-pointer to cut the Inola lead to 42-39 with 1:49 remaining in regulation, added 13 points and 3 rebounds while Stanley managed 10 and 5, including a 3-point play that put the Lady Tigers ahead 47-46 at the 2:55 mark of overtime.

Weast and Mootry — both seniors — embraced near half court after the final buzzer sounded, and the remaining Lady Longhorns quickly followed suit as the emotional weight of the moment took hold.

Wiginton and her fellow Lady Longhorns were born into a world untouched by Inola's presence in the state tournament — a realm where Fort Gibson reigned supreme — for at least a decade.

But on the night of March 2, 2024, in Stroud, they shattered the confines of expectation, rewriting the narrative of Oklahoma high school basketball in the process. With unwavering determination, they confronted the towering legacy of the Lady Tigers' 19-year dominance, daring to challenge their unyielding grip of tradition.

And in their audacious defiance, they posed a simple yet profound question:

Why not Inola?

"I can't describe it — it's amazing," Wheeler said. "It's nice to add that as a bonus on top of it, but these girls have all grown up together. They had this wish, this dream for years. We've got a homegrown team that's going to the state tournament. They've missed it (narrowly) both times (in 2022 and 2023), and now we're finally there."