Basketball: Providence Academy wins title

OKLAHOMA CITY -- Lisa Bivens kicked off her heels as she climbed the ladder to trim the last strand of net from the rim.

Anna Siemens took teammate Hayley Kate Webb in a quick one-armed embrace as the buzzer sounded, and the Providence Academy Lady Patriots thanked the fans that made the three-and-a-half hour trip to the state championship.

OCSSA Class 3A State Championship

Girls

Providence Academy 58, Destiny Christian 46

Destiny^5^9^18^14^—^46

Providence^12^13^19^14^—^58

Destiny (22-8): Staley 16, Ferguson 14, Sutton 6, Miller 4, Willis 4, Nunes 2.

Providence (21-9): Buiydaite 16, Webb 13, Siemens 9, Kash 9, McCurdy 6, Shell 3, Curry 2.

Boys

Destiny Christian 49, Providence Academy 45

Providence^8^17^6^14^—^45

Destiny^13^13^12^11^—^49

Providence (22-11): Loveless 13, Weber 12, Shittu 10, Thomas 8, Fox 2.

Destiny (30-0): Killman 17, Street 14, Robinson 6, Sanchez 5, Jossell 4, Youell 3.

They are coming home as the back-to-back Oklahoma Christian Schools Athletic Association Class 3A state champions after defeating Destiny Christian 58-46 in at Mid-American Christian University on Friday.

"We knew we could win it this year, but we knew we also had to play hard," Bivens said. "Destiny is a good team, and they come out ready to play us every year."

Providence Academy (22-9), which beat Destiny Christian four days earlier in the winners' bracket semifinal, set the tone early on the defensive end. The Patriots held Destiny without a made field goal for nearly seven minutes to start the game.

"We really said we had to come out strong (Friday)," Bivens said. "We can't let them think they're in it. We knew anything could change at any point. We really tried to come out strong with our defense."

Destiny (22-8) never pulled within seven points after the initial surge by the Patriots, who won their first state title last season.

Providence led by as many as 18 points in the second half led by Austeja Buivydaite, who scored 11 of her team-high 16 points in the second quarter.

Boys

Destiny Christian 49, Providence Academy 45

Providence Academy coach Austin Bivens tried to prepare his team for its travel west for the state championship.

He told the Patriots that the farther west they traveled, the more physical the game would be.

"You go to Tulsa, and they let you play more physical. You go to Oklahoma City, and you need a helmet," he said.

SK Shittu, Providence's 6-foot-9 post presence and its primary source of physical play, watched much of the game on the bench in foul trouble. He couldn't provide a strong answer, and neither could the Patriots in their loss in the boys title game.

"They were physical. Our guys didn't adjust," Bivens said. "If I could give one thing that beat us, including SK, we weren't physical. You have to adjust to that. We did not do that."

Shittu, the UCA signee who scored 10 points, picked up his second foul with 1 minute, 22 seconds to go in the first quarter. On the scoreboard Providence had an answer. Luke Loveless scored seven of his team-high 13 points in the second quarter, and the Patriots had four players score at least eight points.

Destiny (30-0), which beat Providence just four days earlier, had just enough in the fourth quarter, when the Wildcats went 11-for-16 from the free-throw line and didn't hit a field goal.

"This team was good or better than anybody we played," Bivens said. "... While they may not have had the day-in, day-out schedule that we had, the guard play they had was as good as anybody we saw, if not better."

Taylor Weber scored 12 points, and Braden Thomas, who left the game temporarily with a right leg injury after crashing to the court following a collision, finished with eight points.

Providence made its fourth-straight state title game but saw its run of back-to-back titles come to an end.

"I really love this team," Bivens said. "You're not always going to have a team that's this or that, but when a team gives you great heart, as a coach, you are going to love and remember those."

Sports on 02/25/2017

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