Oran girls basketball storm Valle Catholic early in Class 2 sectional, cruise to 75-25 win

Oran and Valle Catholic players vie for the opening tipoff during the Class 2 sectional game Wednesday at Jackson High School.

TYLER GRAEF

Following a formula it has used all postseason, the Oran girls basketball team stormed out to an early lead and cruised to a big victory.

The Eagles opened the Class 2 state sectional against Valle Catholic by scoring the first 13 points and led by 24 points after one quarter.

It was that type of night as Oran rolled past Valle Catholic 75-25 on Wednesday at Jackson High School.

TYLER GRAEF ~ tgraef@semissourian.com

An Oran fan holds a cutout depicting Leah Cauble during a game between Oran and Valle Catholic High School at Jackson High School Wednesday, Feb. 27, 2019.

Leah Cauble scored 39 points, and Katie Webb notched a double-double with 14 points and 10 rebounds plus seven steals.

With the win, Oran advances to the Class 2 state quarterfinals for the third straight season and will face Thayer, ranked No. 1 in the Class 2 state coaches poll, at 2:45 p.m. Saturday at Three Rivers College.

Against Valle, Oran jumped out to a 10-0 lead in less than two minutes, taking advantage of five Warrior turnovers.

"We hoped that our playoff experience would come out in the beginning and maybe they'd be a little bit nervous and we'd be able to create some turnovers out of the press," Oran coach Ethan Evans said. "That helped us get up and dictate the tempo from the very beginning."

Valle (14-14) ended up turning the ball over 30 times, including 21 in the first half. Oran (22-6) converted those turnovers into fast-break points, and the game often looked like a layup line with Cauble finding little resistance in transition.

Kaylee Payne had 12 points, seven rebounds and four assists, while Jessie Long added seven points and six steals for Oran.

"Jessie Long did a great job getting a lot of deflections and steals for us and kicking it up to Leah," Evans said.

Oran was 29 of 59 from the field (49.2 percent) while Valle was 9 of 49 (18.4 percent).

In the first quarter alone, Valle had 12 turnovers and used nine players. Nothing worked as Oran did what it has done all postseason, brush past opponents.

Oran has won all three of its playoff games by 50 points or more and scored the first 21 points in its Class 2 District 3 championship victory over St. Vincent on Friday.

Now, comes the Eagles' biggest test. Thayer (27-3) beat Hayti 64-21 in a state sectional Wednesday, their 11th consecutive victory.

The Bobcats also knocked off reigning state champion Neelyville in the Class 2 District 2 championship game last week and haven't lost to a Class 2 team all year.

With a win, Oran would advance to the final four for the second time in three years after falling to Neelyville in the state quarterfinals last season.

It will take a great effort to get past the Bobcats, the coach said.

"It's going to take a perfect game," Evans said. "We're going to have play well offensively and defensively. They really lock down in the half court. I've watched them play a million times. We're going to have to prepare for it the next two days to come out and attack."

VALLE CATHOLIC (25) -- Rachel Loida 6, Riley Siebert 3, Hannah Fowler 2, Mallory Weiler 8, Lauren Stab 2, Mia Weiler 2, Ella Bertram 2. FG 9, FT 4-10, F 13. (3-pointers: Siebert, Weiler 2. Fouled out: None.)

ORAN (75) -- Kaylee Payne 12, Leah Cauble 39, Jessie Long 7, Katie Webb 14, Hope Woodfin 3. FG 29, FT 13-19, F 12. (3-pointers: Payne 2, Cauble, Woodfin. Fouled out: None.)