We are the Champions!!! Celtics knock off SOONERS!

Tulsa Celtics
Wow! I am impressed with this group. After getting pummelled by the Oklahoma Sooners this morning at 8 a.m., the Celtics entered the Championship bracket as a #2 seed and were faced off against the hardnosed, very physical Bixby Spartans.
The Spartans controlled the first 3 quarters of our opening round, Friday night game but the Celtics kept applying the pressure and defeated Bixby by 3 points.

In today's semifinal game, Price Pinkerton exploded from the opening tipoff with two consecutive three's and a twisting power move inside as the Celtics opened up a quick 10-2 lead.
At halftime, Coach McIlroy discussed how critical the first 3 minutes of the second half would be. One particular Celtic seemed to be particularly inspired and took it upon himself to make sure we didn't back down from the extremely physical play by a few of the Spartans. Sean McIlroy (SeanMac) made two power drives while being ridden rough by #13 of Bixby for two big baskets. Then he sacrificed his body (which already housed a severely bruised tailbone from the day before) and picked up a huge CHARGE. We never let up the intensity and held twenty point leads throughout the second half although Bixby cut the lead to 14 with about 5 minutes left in the game. It was a great victory and earned us a spot in the finals (and a REMATCH) against the NE OKLAHOMA All-Stars who called themselves the Oklahoma Sooners.

MAYB CHAMPIONSHIP GAME

The Sooners and Celtics battled hard and it was a close game although the Celtics opened up a 9 point lead early in the second half. That lead evaporated as they started to connect on their outside shots. We played zone for most of the game before the sizzling Sooners forced us to MAN UP. Pinkerton, Santos, MaGuire, Larkin, Morton, McIlroy and Wise battled hard, played as a team, and came away with an extremely hardearned and well deserved 58-56 victory in the MAYB 8th Grade Championship game.

Follow shots, offensive rebounds, blocking out, drawing charges and smart decision making by our point guards were the reasons we won the tournament. Brock & Kale garnered huge rebounds by following their shots late in the game; Brock nailed two free throws to give us a 58-56 lead with 20 seconds left in the game; Sean & Brock drew charges all day; Price was an animal on the glass and down in the paint; Jarred was a FORCE in the middle on both ends of the court; Matt made key steals and directed the offense; Alan's incredibile athleticness caused turnovers and was hot from 3 pt land; Kale hit key 3's and all the CELTICS played awesome defense throughout the tourney.

From getting drilled in the 8 a.m. game to winning the championship in a rematch, each Celtic should be very proud of this MAYB Championship.

First place in the MAYB tourney in the Boys 8th Grade division goes to the TULSA CELTICS. Great job guys.