Indians win district, Lady Indians runner-up

The Comanche basketball teams split their district tournament games with Frederick last Friday night. The Lady Indians started action with a back-and-forth game with Frederick before falling in overtime, 61-57, while the Indians recovered from a slow start to post a 60-44 win over the Bombers.

Next up for the Comanche teams is the regional tournament hosted by Lone Grove. Comanche will play at the subsite in Purcell on Thursday and then go to Lone Grove on Friday.

Following their loss last Friday, the Lady Indians (13-9)  will have no room for error as another loss will eliminate them from the postseason. They will play Lexington (8-15) in the first round at 1:30 p.m. The Lady Tigers have struggled as of late, losing their last 10 games with their last win coming on Jan. 16.

The Indians (10-13) will face a tough task in the nightcap when they play host Purcell (22-2) at 7:30 p.m. The Dragons are ranked third in the state and have been ranked as high as first. Their two losses have come to Marlow and Lindsay, both top 10 teams.

Indians 60

Frederick 44

Comanche watched Frederick jump out to a 7-2 lead in the first four minutes of the game, but then the Indians found their offensive groove, took the lead and never let it go the rest of the game.

The Indians closed out the first quarter on a 12-0 run that was part of a 21-0 run which extended into the second quarter and resulted in a 23-7 lead.

The Bombers were able to recover somewhat and cut the lead down to eight points at the half (27-19).

After Frederick had cut the lead to 27-21 to open the third quarter, Comanche answered with an 11-0 run which included back-to-back three-pointers by Hunter Lassley, Colby Shannon and Corbin Bowen.

The Bombers would get no closer than 10 points the rest of the way as the Indians secured the district championship.

It was a balanced scoring attack by the Indians with four players finishing in double figures, led by Colby Shannon’s season high 18 points.

“Just being inside of our arena with our fans we feel more comfortable here and they give us a lot of energy,” said Anthony Bowie, head coach. “Having the fans was a big plus for us, but we have talked about adversity, getting hit and standing together. You know (Frederick) will go on a run, but how do you respond? We had some opportunities to go on some runs and the players responded.”

Comanche was able to knock down six three-pointers in the game, which the coach said was a big help.

“We’ve been wanting to become better at that as a team in general,” Bowie said. “We haven’t been a very good three-point shooting team this season. We do a lot of shooting in practice and game speed drills, and the guys are buying into it and wanting to shoot the basketball. Being confident is a lot of it and tonight I thought our guys were confident in taking them.”

Scoring

Comanche (10-12): Colby Shannon, 18; Hunter Lassley, 12; Corbin Bowen, 11; Briar Blair, 11; Dillon Ellis, 8

Frederick (14-9): Cathey, 21; Z. Tyler, 7; Gayton, 6; Wells, 6; Peel, 4

 
Lady Bombers 61

Lady Indians 57 (OT)

It was a battle of evenly matched teams with the game not being settled in regulation.

The game featured nine lead changes and five ties and unfortunately for the Lady Indians, it was the ninth lead change that would prevent them from a district championship.

The Lady Indians got a herculean effort from senior Gracee Miller, who scored more than half of her team’s points as she played her last game at Tommy Weast Gymnasium.

The teams combined for 12 three-pointers in the game with Frederick knocking down seven of them, none bigger than Frederick’s Ashley McClung’s three-pointer for the first points of overtime that put the Lady Indians in a tight spot. Comanche was never able to recover. Frederick went on to a 61-55 lead before Miller’s shot with three seconds left in the game ended the overtime drought.

Comanche had a seven-point lead with 5:14 left in the third quarter, but Frederick closed out the quarter on a 11-2 run to take the lead heading into the final quarter.

The Lady Bombers led 55-50 with 1:48 left in regulation, but a free throw by Karsynn Bowles, a steal and lay-up and later two free throws by Miller tied the game with 22.3 seconds left. Comanche did get the ball back, but Bowles’ jumper rattled the rim before popping out and sending the game into overtime.

Scoring

Comanche (13-9): Gracee Miller, 35; Kamrey Rendon, 12; Kynli Morris, 7; Karsynn Bowles, 3

Frederick (16-7): Ashlee McClung, 22; Dannie McClung, 18; Keira Rubie, 9; Karis Hendricks, 5; Madison Bernard, 5; Tenley Mefford, 2