A few nights after scoring 43 points, Howe junior guard Jalei Oglesby found a way to top that performance.

Oglesby set a new career high with 45 points to help power the Lady Lions past Southside, 78-61, in the opening round of the Firstar Bank Jerry and Sandy Wagner Tournament of Champions at Kaundart-Grizzly Fieldhouse. She also grabbed 12 rebounds on the heels of a 43-point 20-rebound outing last weekend in a win against Tulsa Rogers.

“I think driving to the bucket really helps and getting rebounds, offensive rebounds, really helps with the points and helps the whole team,” Oglesby said.

Oglesby, who has been a starter for the Lady Lions since her freshman season, is the lone returning starter from a team which reached the 2A State Tournament last season and was ranked as high as No. 2 in 2A. But Howe, currently ranked No. 4 in 2A, continues to roll along as the Lady Lions improved to 6-0 on the season.

If Oglesby feels any extra pressure, she said it’s really not the case.

“No (there’s no extra pressure), we had our second group last year that’s now our first group, so they’ve had a lot of experience now, so it’s not as much pressure because I have them with me. ... We’re a young team, but I believe that we’re pretty experienced.”

Howe now moves into today’s TOC semifinals at 8:30 p.m. against Van Buren, which defeated Vinita (Okla.) earlier on Thursday.

The Lady Lions also defeated Southside for the second straight year in the first round of the TOC, after outlasting the Mavericks in overtime last season.

“We didn’t play very good defensively early in the middle; I felt like we didn’t do a very good job cutting their guards off and they shot a lot of 3's. ... But I thought as a team, we did a good job of handling the little runs that they had and we handled adversity after we got in a little bit of foul trouble,” Howe coach Chris Brown said. “We had some kids step in off the bench and contribute, like Brittney Wann and Morgan Turner, and also Makayla Twyman and Rachel Beames, they stepped in and got us some minutes.

“Then after we weathered that storm, it seemed like every time they made a little run, we would hit a big shot here or there and Jalei hit a lot of those (Thursday). She’s efficient, but she’s been efficient the last two games. She scores and you don’t realize that she’s got as many as she does; you know she gets a double-double but 45 is a big number.”

Oglesby had 16 of Howe’s 19 points in the first quarter, which ended with the score tied at 19. Howe then started the second quarter on a 16-4 run.

Consecutive baskets inside from Wann pushed the lead into double digits, and two foul shots from sophomore Zoe Nation finished the run, which gave Howe a 35-23 lead with more than three minutes left in the opening half.

Southside (0-7), which trailed 39-29 at halftime, got within three to start the second half, but Howe outscored the Mavericks the rest of the third quarter, 18-6, to build a 57-42 advantage. Oglesby had 10 points in that span; then scored 15 of the Lady Lions’ 21 fourth-quarter points.

Wann, a senior forward, also was in double figures with 10 for Howe. Southside was led by senior guard Kelly Carson, who finished with 27 points, as the Mavericks will take on Vinita in the consolation round at 5:30 p.m. today.
