Taking off on a fast break, Kristopher Fargo (21) sprints down court in front of the Aline-Cleo bench. Fargo led the Eagles with 19 points in the victory over the Cougars.
Blake Lee (13) defends Aline-Cleo's Trevor Swinney (13) in high school action on Tuesday. The Eagles topped the Cougars 51-46 to split the regular season series.
ALINE, Okla. – The Freedom High School boys avenged a season opening loss to Aline-Cleo with a 51-46 win on the road Tuesday night. The Eagles improved their record to 5-10 this season, winning four of their last seven games.
The boys will be back in action tonight at home against Waynoka, with tipoff set for 7:30. They will hit the road next Tuesday at Burlington, before a weekend set of games at the Buffalo Tournament.
Before the date with the Cougars in Aline on Tuesday, the Eagles took part in the Medford Tournament last weekend. After an 84-35 setback against Drummond in the tournament opener, the Eagles responded with a 46-37 victory over Deer Creek-Lamont to reach the consolation championship.
However, the Eagles fell in a hard-fought battle against Shidler in the Saturday showdown, 45-39. Shidler jumped out to a 18-6 lead in the first quarter, forcing the Eagles to try to chip away at the deficit. Kristopher Fargo did his best as he scored 24 points, including three three-pointers in the third quarter.
Against Aline-Cleo on Tuesday, the Eagles were hot from outside in the second half of play, knocking down six shots from behind the arc, three each from Fargo and Blake Lee. Fargo led all scorers in the game with 19 points, while Lee finished in double figures with 12 points.
Myles Nixon also notched a double-figure finish with 13 points, as well as recording three blocks in the win.
The two squads were locked in a back and forth battle throughout the contest, with neither team holding on to a lead of more than three points in the first half. In the first two periods of the game, there were eight lead changes and three ties.
Freedom took the final lead of the half when Fargo came up with a steal and drew a foul on a made layup. The Eagles closed the first half on a 9-3 run to take a 24-21 lead into halftime.
Freedom stretched its lead to nine quickly in the third quarter as Lee and Fargo hit consecutive threes to make it 30-21. Aline-Cleo cut the lead to five before Fargo drained another shot from outside to go up 33-25 at the 4:27 mark in the third.
However, Aline-Cleo's Trevor Swinney answered with a put back layup, followed by a three from the left wing to make it a three-point ballgame. Fortunately, Fargo found Angel Cardenas for a bucket to close the third with Freedom leading 35-30.
The fourth quarter was highlighted by a Cougar offensive outburst in the first four minutes of the final period. Swinney went off for seven points over the time span as the home team went on a 14-0 run to retake the lead from the Eagles, 44-35, with 4:17 to go in the game.
Fargo broke the momentum with a free-throw, ultimately returning the momentum in the favor of the Eagles when Lee came up with a Cougar turnover and found Fargo for a three-point basket. On the next possession, Nixon pulled down an offensive board and converted the put back to cut the Aline-Cleo lead to 44-41 with 2:51 remaining.
With just under two minutes to go in the contest, Lee tied the game at 44 with a NBA range three from the left wing. After a Swinney gave the Cougars a 46-44 lead, and Freedom missed an opportunity on the ensuing possession, the Cougars gifted the Eagles with another chance by way of an offensive foul near mid-court. Lee had the answer for Freedom, driving home another three-pointer to regain the lead for his squad.
Fargo drove in the final dagger in the final minute with a weaving drive through the lane, followed by a pair of free-throws for the 51-46 outcome.
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