The Wewoka Tigers traveled to Oklahoma City for their first round of the State Tournament at the New OG&E Coliseum Thursday night.

The Tigers faced off against the Hartshorne Miners in a close, exciting matchup.

The Miners outscored the Tigers by 2 points in the first to take the lead. The Tigers settled down and fired back in the second quarter with Mike Piza and Bill Stephens scoring seven points each to help the Tigers go on a 20-10 run in the frame and took the lead heading into the half.

Hartshorne slowly closed the gap with Natavious Bringinggood knocking down two treys.

Wewoka’s Bill Stephens and Trae Woods found their three-point spot and kept the Tigers ahead by six at the end of the third quarter.

The Miners made one last effort in the final quarter and closed the gap by two points with just a little over a minute left in the game. Wewoka slowly pulled away and the Miners fouled the Tigers multiple times to try and stop the clock, but it didn’t work out for Hartshorne as Wewoka shot five of nine from the free throw line and came away with the win 68-63.

Leading the way for the Tigers was Bill Stephens with 20 points, one trey, eight rebounds, two assists, and was five of nine from the free throw line.

Ladarious Woods scored 18 points, ten rebounds, and three assists.

Mike Piza scored 15 points, one trey, three rebounds, two assists and was four of seven from the line.

With the win, the Tigers advance to face the Fairland Owls Friday evening at Yukon at 5 p.m.