January 10, 2007

Sports
Ladies go to 9-0; Broncos fall short in second half rally

Brendan Hoover

The Lady Broncos improved to an undefeated 9-0 on Friday night, defeating the Edmond North Lady Huskies 60-37 at the Mustang High School gym.

The Broncos made their second impressive comeback in a row after the girls game, but could not overcome lights out Edmond North free throw shooting in the fourth quarter, falling 65-53.

The Lady Broncos began the first varsity game of the night by finding themselves in first quarter deficit. Two Edmond North free throws at 6:13 extended the Lady Huskie lead to 6-1.

Junior guard Brittany Prandy, making her second start of the season, put back a missed three-pointer to cut the lead to 6-3.

Head coach Nichole Copeland said she is confident in her team depth, and that any lineup she puts on the floor should do well.

“Brittany’s one of those kids who if you could start six, then she be the sixth one,” Copeland said. “She had a nice game—played within herself. She defensively played well, hit open shots, and drove the ball inside.”

Then senior point guard Kasey Tweed made two straight threes from the same spot on consecutive trips down the floor to give Mustang a 9-6 advantage.

A short jumper by junior forward Lacy Ramon with 3:18 to go in the first extended the lead to 11-6.

Junior forward Jordan Pyle was forced to the bench with two fouls, and Mustang committed six fouls as a team in the first quarter.

Copeland defended her team’s physical play and did not apologize for the fouls.

“I do believe we are physical, but that’s something we had to teach over the last seven years. You can’t not be physical in our league. Our kids play basketball the right way. We teach them the fundamentals,” she said.

Copeland said despite the first quarter lead her team didn’t do all the things it is capable of.

“We got kicked on the offensive boards. One of our goals for the game was for them to get only five offensive rebounds for the game. We gave up six in the first quarter alone. We forgot our fundamentals, and their kids played well and wanted the ball more. We’ll take care of that in practice this week,” Copeland said.

The Lady Broncos perked up in the second quarter, using the same full court press that won them a title in the Ada tournament.

“We went to a press to give ourselves a little jump start and to make them play faster than they wanted to,” Copeland said.

Prandy hit a three from the right side to give the Lady Broncos a seven-point, 19-12 lead.

Both teams were in the bonus with almost six minutes to go in the first half and the Lady Huskies took advantage, drawing fouls and getting to the line.

Copeland said Edmond North scored only four field goals in the first half and went 10-12 from the free throw line.

Prandy scored on a nice drive and layup with 4:12 to play in the first, then Pyle converted an old-fashioned three-point play at 3:09 and the Lady Bronco lead was 24-14.

Ramon added two field goals in a 45 second span to push the lead to 28-14 with 2:16 to play.

Junior forward Autumn Foley scored a three from the top of the key to make it 31-17 with 1:25 to play in the first half.

Ramon finished the half for the Lady Broncos by completing a three-point play with 17 remaining, and Mustang took a 36-18 halftime lead into the locker room.

The defending state champions nursed their lead after the break and were outscored 13-9 in the third quarter.

Pyle scored on a tough shot under the basket to give Mustang a 41-23 lead with 3:38 left in the quarter.

The Lady Huskies tried to mount a fourth quarter comeback, but the Lady Broncos put the clamp down on defense, making steals on several consecutive possessions. One steal lead to a fast break play began by Tweed and finished by junior guard Kaitlin Ellison to make it 50-33.

Ramon scored on another steal and layup to extend the lead to 54-33 with four minutes left in the game.

From there the bench came in for mop up duty.

For the game, Ramon led the team with 18 points. Prandy scored a season-high 10. Pyle added nine in limited duty. Tweed and Foley contributed seven each. Ellison finished with four. Senior guard Sarah Bryan hit a three near the end of the game, and Lofland had two on the night.

In the second game, the Broncos found themselves in a 28-17 hole at the half.

Head coach Alan Green said the second quarter has been tough for the Broncos in their last two games.

“The bottom line is we just were flat in the second quarter. We’ve scored 13 points in the second quarter over the last two games. That just kills us,” Green said.

The Broncos came out in the third quarter playing a 2-3 zone on defense, forcing the Huskies into many low-percentage perimeter shots. The strategy worked and the Broncos began their comeback, outscoring Edmond North 14-7 to cut the lead to four at the end of the third.

Junior guard Auston Davidson hit a floater with nine seconds left in the third to cut the lead to two, but Edmond North scored at the buzzer to make it 35-31.

Edmond North hit two three-pointers and two free throws at the outset of the fourth to push the lead back to 12.

Then the Broncos began to foul to stop the clock and give themselves time to catch up. The strategy worked to a point, as Davidson hit a three from the left corner at 3:36 and Carroll made two threes in a row to make the score 47-59 with just over a minute to play.

But the Huskies never missed from the foul line in the last quarter, converting 16 straight free throws and not allowing the Broncos to get closer than 11 in the last two minutes.

Green said that despite the 65-53 loss he was pleased with his team’s play.

“I told our kids after the game I felt their overall effort was good. (Edmond North) ran their offensive sets and knocked down a bunch of shots. I tip my hat to them. A loss is a loss, but the final score was a bit deceptive,” he said.

Carroll had a team-high 22 points for the Broncos. Junior forward Steven Anderson chipped in 12. Davidson finished with 7 points, and junior forward Austin Feuerborn scored six on the night. Sophomore guard Graham Faulkner hit a three during the fourth quarter comeback, and senior Kevin Kerner finished with three points.

The Broncos are on the road this weekend to defend last year’s championship in the Anadarko tournament.

The Lady Broncos are off until playing at Putnam City North next Tuesday.

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