The Tahlequah Tigers had already won 13 in a row (a stretch where they outscored their opponents by an average of 19.5 points), and they went ahead and made it 14 on Friday. They put the hurt on Bishop Kelley with a sharp 47-27 victory. Given Tahlequah's advantage in MaxPreps' Oklahoma basketball rankings (they are ranked 13th, while Bishop Kelley is ranked 159th), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.
Bishop Kelley's loss came despite a true team effort from the offense, with many players turning in solid performances. Perhaps the best among them was Anne Blankenship, who scored 11 points along with five rebounds and three steals. Blankenship has been hot recently, having posted two or more steals the last 18 times she's played.
Tahlequah has been performing incredibly well recently as they've won 14 of their last 15 matchups, which provided a nice bump to their 21-2 record this season. As for Bishop Kelley, this is the second loss in a row for them and nudges their season record down to 12-10.
Both teams will have to hit the road in their upcoming games. Tahlequah is on the road again on Tuesday and plays Booker T. Washington at 6:00 p.m. on February 13th. Booker T. Washington is also coming in off of a big victory, so somebody is in for a big reversal of fortune. As for Bishop Kelley, they will head out on the road to face off against East Central at 6:00 p.m. on Tuesday. Hopefully Bishop Kelley focused on turnovers this week since the team gave up 21 on Friday.
