Johnny McMahan
Woodward News
Woodward, Okla. — MIDWEST CITY - The Boomers are back in the state basketball tournament.
Recovering nicely from an overtime loss to Bishop McGuinness on Friday, the Boomers routed Anadarko 72-40 in the Class 4A Area 1 consolation finals at Sutton Fieldhouse Saturday night.
Woodward, 23-4 and ranked 5th by coachesaid.com, will make its first state tournament appearance since 2004 next Thursday. The site and opponent will be named on Sunday.
With four players scoring in double figures, the Boomers blew out Anadarko in the second half.
Ahead 25-16 despite shooting under 30 percent from the field in the first half, the Boomers exploded for 25 points in the third quarter to put the game away. Woodward scored 47 points in the game's final 16 minutes.
Casey Covalt and Seth Heckart had 16 points each to lead the Boomers. Heckart scored 14 of his in the second half. Chaunce Carrico added 13 points and hit a pair of 3-pointers during the third quarter explosion. Daniel Nelson chipped in in 10 points.
Shawn Hunter had 6 points, Austin Hickman 5 and Drake Smithton and Garrett Roach 4 each to complete the Boomer scoring.
Woodward students and fans filled over half of the fieldhouse for the game and they got to see a strong performance by the Boomers.
It was Woodward's third win of the year over the Warriors, who had eliminated the Boomers in the area finals two years ago.
The Boomers got even this time, taking a 10-7 lead after the first quarter and extending it in the second period by hitting free throws. Nelson hit 4 from the line and Covalt a couple, then Covalt nailed the Boomers only trey in the first half as the Boomers led by 9 at the break.
Defense was the primary reason as the Boomers forced over a dozen turnovers from Warriors, who had problems just trying to set up an offense against Woodward's variety of pressure defenses.
The Warriors also helped out by missing 8 first-half free throws.
In the third period, it was all Woodward. Hickman scored 5 quick points, then Heckart started hitting from short and long range and Carrico added 6 points of his own.
In all, the Boomers hit 8 of 16 shots from the field and turned a competitive game into a 50-31 blowout.
The Boomer lead was still 19 points, 57-38, when they went on a 15-2 run over final 4 minutes.
This state tournament appearance will be the second for the Boomers under head coach Corey Miller.
In 2004, the Boomers won five straight games in the elimination bracket to qualify.
Previous to that, the Boomers were in the state tournament in 1976 when they reached the semifinals.
The 1976 appearance was the Boomers first since 1953.
