By Joey McWilliams
OKLAHOMA CITY – Silo earned its way to the Class 2A state championship game after two one-point victories at the State Fairgrounds Arena. But the Lady Rebels couldn’t quite pick up the third win in three days.
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The pressure defense from the Howe Lady Lions proved too much on the morning as Silo fell to Howe, 71-57, in the finals.
Howe had two scoring runs of double-digit points in the second quarter to pull away and never looked back.
Silo was led by Tiani Ellison, whose play during the previous two games was instrumental in getting the Lady Rebels into the championship game. Ellison had 16 points on the day, six rebounds and five blocked shots. She fouled out with 3:03 remaining in the game.
“I can’t be more proud of our kids,” head coach Ty Harman said. “They never quit in that game – they haven’t quit all year. For everything they’ve been through – we don’t even get to practice with some of them because of the injuries.
“Everybody wrote us off in January when we had that little stretch where we didn’t play that well. For them to fight back for that and prove people wrong, that’s pretty special.
“We came up short today and we got beat by a great team. There is no shame in losing to somebody like Howe. I just couldn’t be more proud of them.”
Bradi Harman and Presley McKnight each scored 11 for the Lady Rebels in the title game. Alania Bell put in seven points, Cassidy Harman had five and Gracie Lawless had one.
Kalan Nye led the Lady Lions in scoring with 15. Raelyn Delt and Makayla Twyman each put in 10.
Silo closes the season at 23-4.