The Henryetta Golden Knights closed out the first-round schedule of the 2022 Muscogee Nation Okmulgee County Basketball Tournament last Thursday with thrilling 43-41 victory over the Okmulgee Bulldogs. The other county teams to punch their ticket to the semifinals last Thursday were the 7-time tournament champion Preston Pirates, who began the boys bracket action with a 57-26 win over the Okmulgee Bulldog junior varsity team, the Beggs Golden Demons - the 2-time defending tournament champions - with a 75-14 victory over the Schulter Bulldogs, and the Morris Eagles, who notched an 86-33 decision over the Wilson Tigers. Last Friday’s boys-bracket action at the tournament featured Okmulgee taking on the Preston JV and Wilson battling Schulter in elimination contests and Preston squaring off against Henryetta and Morris going up against Beggs in winner’s bracket semifinal games. See Page 5 for complete details of Friday’s elimination games and Page 4 for Friday’s semifinal action. Below are summaries from last Thursday’s opening-round action in the boys bracket of the 2022 Muscogee Nation Okmulgee County Basketball Tournament.