Outlaws score Class 3A Regional Championship in match against Lindsay; Boys to play for area title against Roland on Friday

At a Glance:

Marlow Outlaws won the Class 3A/Area 3 Regional Championship title at Kingston Saturday night after winning against the Lindsay Leopards, 42-35 in an overtime game. Marlow will play in the Area Championship tournament Saturday against 4th ranked Roland. The Outlaws are ranked 7th, with a 22-4 score. If they win the area title, they will have a berth in the Class 3A State Tournament, March 9-11, in Oklahoma City.

Outlaws Individual Scoring (Regionals) Avrey Payne – 21 points; Blayd Harris – 9 points; Parker Boyles – 8 points; Mason Holding – 3 points; Kaden Harris – 2 points.

“We are very excited for the opportunity to play Roland in the Area Finals. We are somewhat familiar with Roland because they were our state quarter-final matchup from the state tournament last year,” Outlaw Head Coach Kirk Harris said.

“They return 3 starters from last year’s team as well as several talented sophomores and freshmen.”

Roland is ranked 4th in the state with a 23-2 record. Harris said Roland’s guards are athletic and they have wing players who shoot from the deep in order to get to the basket.

“They will be the best transition team we have played all season. We will have to play well defensively to try and slow down their fast-break offense. We have to continue to get better every game on defense and our rebounding has to improve if we want to make it back to the state tournament.”

Harris was pleased with the end results for his team in the regional finals against 10th-ranked Lindsay, which netted a 42-35 overtime win for the Outlaws.

“I thought the difference for us was Avrey (Payne) taking over the game on both ends of the floor. He is such a tough matchup for people to guard and really controls the paint on the defensive end.”

On Thursday, Feb. 23, the boys won 48-43 against Tishomingo Indians on the Outlaw’s home court.

Outlaws Individual Scoring: Avrey Payne – 20 points; Kaden Harris – 9 points; Parker Boyles – 8 points; Mason Holding – 5 points; Blayd Harris – 4 points; Zach Long – 2 points.