Sapulpa earned its first girls’ basketball state title since 2007 as they downed the Tahlequah Tigers 58-49 Saturday night at the Mabee Center in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Sapulpa’s strong fourth quarter extended its lead to 18 points with six minutes left, and the Lady Chieftan’s didn’t look back. Sapulpa’s Temira Poindexter headed the Chieftain charge, scoring 17 points while grabbing 12 rebounds. Poindexter has numerous NCAA DI offers, and will continue her success at the next level. VYPE editor Cole Ward caught up with Poindexter moments after the win.

VYPE: It was such a crazy season for everyone, how cool is it to come out on top in 5A?

Poindexter: It means so much, our season got cut off last year, so winning it this year seems like a dream come true. I couldn’t imagine a better ending for our seniors.

VYPE: Who was an unsung hero for you all? Someone who didn’t fill up the stat sheet, but you couldn’t win it all without her.

Poindexter: That was definitely Jaselyn Rossman for us this year, she always stepped up when we needed her. She made some huge shots today, and always seemed to do that this year.

VYPE: Tahlequah was a super talented team coming in, what was your teams main focus to shutting them down?

Poindexter: We needed to play great defense and grab all the rebounds, and I think we did that well today. We knew they could shoot really well too, so we got our hands up and made plays.

VYPE: This was senior heavy team this year. Do you think Sapulpa has a good chance of repeating next year?

Poindexter: Oh, it’s definitely possible, we have a lot of great young players this year that learned a lot to bring into next season.

VYPE: You can pretty much play any position on the floor, which position do you prefer?

Poindexter: I loved playing in a forward roll for this team, and I know I won’t be the biggest when I play in college next year, so the three or four spot fits my game the best.