By Jeff Cali | The Ada News

The game couldn’t have started any better for Merritt. and the game certainly couldn’t have started much worse for McAlester.

The Oilerettes jumped out to a huge early lead and coasted past McAlester 59-45 Saturday in the third-place game of the 2023 Bertha Frank Teague Mid-America Classic. Merritt, ranked No. 7 in Class 2A, improved to 8-1 on the year while Class 5A McAlester left town at 6-4.

Merritt 59, McAlester 45

Merritt bolted to a 22-2 lead to start the game and buried McAlester early. The Lady Buffs started the contest by hitting just one of their first nine field goal attempts and coupled that with six first-quarter turnovers.

By the time Merritt’s Chloe Stout buried a 3-pointer late in the second period, the Oilerettes’ lead had grown to 35-9.

Credit McAlester. Coach Jarrod Owen’s club put together a strong second half but couldn’t claw its way out of the big hole.

The Lady Buffaloes pulled within 55-39 after a 3-pointer from playmaker Tori Kilburn with just over six minutes to play but never really threatened down the stretch. McAlester outscored the Oilerettes 34-22 in the second half.

Merritt got a team-high 17 points from Addison Hartman, who finished 5-of-6 from the free-throw line and also had three steals. Marlie Mong buried four 3-pointers and scored 15 points for Merritt, while Stout was next with 12 points, including four triples of her own.

Ella Porter also hit double figures for the Oilerettes with 10 points to go with seven rebounds and five assists.

As a team, Merritt finished 8-of-14 (57.1%) from beyond the arc while McAlester sank 5-of-16 3-point attempts.

Hartman and Mong were all-tournament selections for Merritt.

Kilburn, who was limited to three points in the first half, erupted for a game-best 28 points and corralled 13 rebounds to finish with an impressive double-double. She sank four 3-point shots and also blocked three shots and had a pair of steals. No other McAlester player scored more than five points.

Kilburn was McAlester’s lone all-tournament selection.