Tim Ritter
Sports Editor
CLAREMORE — TULSA — The last time the Claremore Zebras notched a win in the State Tournament, Braveheart was a box office hit in the movie theater.
On Thursday, inside a red-cladded Mabee Center, it took a resilient effort from the Zebras to overcome the pesky El Reno Indians in the Class 5A State Quarterfinals.
Behind the clutch shooting of junior guard Alex Miller, who finished with 19 points and was 5-of-6 from the free throw line in overtime, the Zebras rallied past El Reno, 74-66.
“Wow, what a finish,” Claremore head coach Tim Stewart said. “We had kids step up and hit big shots in the clutch.”
Senior forward Robert Boyles stepped up to the charity stripe with 17.8 seconds left in regulation and buried a pair of free throws to give Claremore a 57-56 lead.
On the next possession down court, El Reno’s Devante Moore drove the lane and immediately drew the foul on Boyles. Moore tied the game at 57, hitting 1-of-2 free throws with 12.9 seconds remaining.
Miller, who opened the game with back-to-back three pointers, penetrated past El Reno guard Chris Mustain and watched his 15-foot jumper miss off the rim at the buzzer, thus forcing overtime.
“That last second shot looked so good to me,” Miller said. “Even though, it didn’t go in it gave us the momentum going into overtime.”
Claremore needed to rally from a 45-38 deficit with 4:11 remaining in the fourth quarter and got a big lift from Ben James, who made the most of his only field goal attempt on the day.
James spotted up from the left corner and buried the three-pointer with the Claremore student crowd cheering him on in the background, pulling the Zebras to within four at 45-41 with 4:01 left.
“Ben’s three was huge,” Stewart said. “That’s been the story of our season. Someone new every game steps up and makes a key shot.”
Seconds later, El Reno’s Jakeil Everheart was called for his fourth foul on the inbounds play and Miller made the Indians pay with a driving layup that trimmed the deficit to 45-43 with 3:52 left.
Miller’s timely aggression along with James’s clutch shot erupted the Claremore crowd and sent the Zebras on a 5-0 scoring spree.
That run was short-lived as Moore connected on his second field goal of the game - a three-pointer - from left baseline to extend El Reno’s lead to 48-43.
Then, with 2:56 remaining, back-to-back layups from Dakota Caudill and Michael Skimbo once again pulled Claremore within a point at 48-47.
“When we were down seven late in the game, it felt like McAlester all over again,” Miller said. “I told the guys we could do this, we just had to focus on defense and get the stops we needed.”
Miller and the Zebras had a hard time stopping El Reno’s Mustain, who scored a game-high 30 points, but the Indians had an even tougher time halting Claremore in overtime.
The heart of the Zebras showed in the final five minutes as Caudill knocked down two quick baskets before fouling out with 2:20 remaining.
The 6-foot-5 junior post oversized the El Reno lineup, whose tallest player was 6-foot-1 Moore, and finished with a team-high 21 points.
Claremore converted 11-of-16 free throws in overtime to pull off the hard-fought victory.
“Give El Reno credit, they got us out of our rhythm and we couldn’t get in a flow,” Stewart said. “But down the stretch, we were able to make plays and the confidence of these kids found a way to win. That speaks volumes to their character.”
With the win, Claremore improved to 25-2 and face Tulsa Memorial (24-2) at 4:30 p.m. today in the Class 5A State Semifinals at the Mabee Center.
“We’re thankful to be here and in this position,” Miller said. “The expectations weren’t that high for us going into the season. Now that we’re here, we just have to play free and play smart.”
