The Checotah Wildcats saw an eight-point lead fade away in a 47-37 loss in the opening round of the Checotah Crossroads Classic on Thursday. Checotah came out firing as R.J. Womack began shooting from the arch, scoring two three-point buckets with teammates Tyler Orman and Aum Patel adding a threepoint bucket of their own to give the Wildcats a 12-7 lead to end the first period.

Keys began to chip away at the lead with scores from Joe Green and Aiden Hooper to give the Cougars a 12-point second period to trail Checotah 20-19.

Defense played well with Orman, Womack and Elijah Thomas forcing turnovers and grabbing rebounds. It was a tough third period as both teams scored 11 points each. Keys’ perimeter shooting began to be a factor in the fourth as they outscored the Wildcats 17-6 rallying from eight points down.

Rowan Chapman, Weston Brown and Hudson Pollard played with each giving great effort during their time on court. Green along with Ausm Davis and Cooper gave the Cougars the edge with consecutive rebounding on both ends of the court to earn a hard fought game 47-37.

Tyler Orman led Checotah with 11 points, Thomas seven, Womack and Patel six points each and Chapman added five points in the loss.

No stats made available for Friday’s game.