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Thunder sweep Enid Outlaws in TBL action
Former Cleveland High standout Ryan Jones (7) made his May 10 debut with the Santa Ana Thunder a good one. Jones, seen here watching for a rebound, scored 9 points in Friday night’s win, when he played a little more than 20 minutes, and then scored 14 points in the Thunder’s victory on Saturday, when he played four fewer seconds.
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BERNALILLO — It looks like the Enid Outlaws and Santa Ana Thunder are two similar basketball teams, with the Thunder now on a two-game winning streak after sweeping the visiting Outlaws over the weekend at Bernalillo High School.
Both contests were back-and-forth affairs, and in each one Enid (7-10) let fourth-period leads get away.
The Thunder (6-9), who have won three of their last four games — all three Ws coming vs. the Outlaws — hit the road for games at Texas (May 16), Shreveport (May 17) and Little Rock (May 19) this week, as The Basketball League's end of the regular season approaches.
It was an interesting weekend for Thunder fans, generally fewer than 100 at home games, in that the team’s leading scorer, Edward Oliver-Hampton, had been cut form the roster, winding up now on the Wichita roster, and two former City of Vision high school players, Ryan Jones of Cleveland High and Jared Fuller of Rio Rancho High made their debuts.
Thunder 113, Outlaws 103: Coach Cliff Levingston has been concerned about the way his team comes out for the second half, and on Friday night, the Thunder led by a dozen, 58-46, at halftime.
Then the Outlaws responded with a 34-24 advantage in the third period and went on to extend what had been an 82-80 deficit heading into the final quarter to an 86-85 lead. Enid was as close as 103-100 with 2:39 left in regulation, but a 10-3 Thunder run closed out the game.
Ty Sean Powell led the Thunder with 25 points, Christopher Bradford had 23, Joshua Jones added 15 and Victor Wariso and Dajion Henderson had 10 apiece. Ryan Jones had nine points and Jared Fuller had two, thanks to an assist from another former Ram Marcus Williams.
One stat that can’t be overlooked: The Outlaws were 0 of 16 from behind the arc, while Santa Ana was a respectable 8 of 20 — a swing of 24 points.
Thunder 121, Outlaws 119: Again, a fourth-quarter run led to a win.
Ahead 69-66 at intermission, and then trailing by one, 96-95, heading into the fourth period, the Thunder closed out the game on a 13-7 run.
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Enid found long-range success, making 6 of 19 3-point attempts, and the Thunder were 6 of 16 from behind the arc.
Wariso — making 5 of 6 3-point attempts — scored 25, Powell had 23, Bradford came up with 20, Henderson and Ryan Jones added 14 apiece, and Joshua Jones scored 11.
After this week’s road trip, the Thunder have just two regular-season games remaining: May 24 and 25 at Bernalillo High School vs. the Wichita Sky Kings — and Oliver-Hampton. Both games tip off at 7 p.m.
