SUBMITTED STORY

The Mannford Pirates concluded their basketball season this past weekend in the regional tournament at Fort Gibson. They finished the season 18-8 with a 9-1 Tulsa 7 Conference record and a third consecutive conference championship along with a 3rd consecutive District Championship. District Playoff (2-19-16) Mannford 44 Jay 32 Garner-20 Whittenburg- 15 Carvajal- 5 Keizor- 3 L. Wasson- 1 The Pirates opened up the playoffs with a 44-32 win over Jay. It was a back and forth game with the Mannford holding a 24-20 lead at halftime. The Pirates outscored the visiting Bulldogs 11-2 in the fourth quarter to seal the victory. Noah Garner lead the Pirate’s with 20 points while Braden Whittenburg chipped in 15 points. “I thought we really played well defensively especially in the second half. To hold someone to two points in the fourth quarter is hard to do,” Coach Mike Banfield said. Regional (2-25-26) Mannford 41 Locust Grove 56 Whittenburg- 14 Garner- 11 Brinker- 6 Keizor- 4 C. Wasson- 2 L. Wasson- 2 Carvajal- 2 The first round of the regional tournament Mannford faced 8th ranked in class 4A Locust Grove who came in to the game with a 20-3 record. Locust Grove jumped out to a 28-20 halftime lead and then built on the lead in the the third. Mannford cut the deficit back to single digits a couple times, but could not get over the hump. Locust Grove prevailed 56-41 in the end. Braden Whittenburg lead Mannford in scoring with 14 points. Noah Garner chipped in 11. “Locust Grove has a really good group. We struggled to get stops when we had to and didn’t shoot the ball very well. To beat high caliber teams you have to get timely stops and shoot it well. We struggled in both of those areas,” Banfield said. Regional (2-26-16) Mannford 46 Inola 52 Whittenburg- 14 Brinker- 14 Carvajal- 8 Garner- 8 L. Wasson-2 The Pirates had to turn around and play the Inola Longhorns Friday night. They had to do so without senior starting guard Chandler Wasson who was out with a hyper extended elbow. The Pirates held a 27-21 lead at halftime and lead 41 to 33 going in to the fourth. Mannford struggled in the fourth to score and Inola hit 4 3s in the quarter to seal the victory. The Pirates lost in the end 52-46. Braden Whittenburg and Bryce Brinker lead the Pirates in scoring with 14 each. “It was frustrating the way the game ended for us. Certainly not having Chandler hurt us on both ends of the floor. He’s a tough kid that would have played if he could, but he was unable to go. Our other kids played well for three quarters and then for whatever reason we just didn’t play well down the stretch. We went cold and they heated up. I’m really going to miss this senior group. They went 66-16 the last three years and were great leaders all season long,” Banfield explained. Tulsa 7 Honors and All Conference Team Individuals selected to the All- Conference Team: Noah Garner (Tulsa 7 Conference Player of the Year) Braden Whittenburg (All Conference) Bryce Brinker (All Conference) Chandler Wasson (Honorable Mention All Conference) Jorge Carvajal (Honorable Mention All Conference) Mike Banfield (Tulsa 7 Conference Coach of the Year)