Guthrie High’s boys basketball team closed the regular season last week by honoring its seniors and avenging a loss eight days earlier to rival Piedmont in a 55-52 victory.
Now, the Bluejays (1013) will focus on regional play when they travel to Carl Albert on Friday night to face MacArthur (9-12) at 6 p.m. Guthrie will be looking to avenge a 73-65 season-opening loss to MacArthur. The winner meets Carl Albert (185) or Duncan (0-21) on Saturday.
Against Piedmont, the Bluejays led 34-27 at one point before the Wildcats went on a 10-0 run in the third quarter to re-take the lead. The Bluejays broke open a 42-42 tie by hitting 9 of 12 free throws in the fourth quarter.
Overall, Guthrie was 16-for-20 from the charity stripe, while the Wildcats were 6-for-8.
Nate Benford led the way with 20 points. Jaylen Chelf and Jaylen Harper each had 14 points, with Harper connecting on three critical 3-point shots. Braydon Morgan closed out the scoring with nine points.
Guthrie also hosted a pair of Class 5A teams, Southeast and Del City, last week. The Bluejays took the Spartans to overtime on Feb. 13 before falling 76-70. The Eagles brought their 6-foot-10 McDonald’s All-American Brandon Garrison to town the next night and the Bluejays dropped a 54-43 decision.
In the Southeast game, the Bluejays led 34-29 at the half and 53-47 after three quarters. It was 6666 at the end of regulation when the Spartans outscored the ‘Jays 10-4 to secure the win.
Chelf had 22 points to lead the way. Morgan and Benford chipped in with 16 and 12 points, respectively. Michael Graham and Fat Fields led the Spartans with 30 and 22 points, respectively.
In the Del City game, guarding Garrison was a task for the smaller Bluejays, yet Garrison would end up fouling out in the fourth quarter as would Guthrie’s Benford, who led his team with 10 points. Morgan chipped in with eight points.