Comanche basketball season ends at regional

The basketball season came to an end for both Comanche boys and girls in the regional semifinals in Lone Grove last Friday. The Lady Indians fell to Hugo, 48-41, while the Indians lost by a 58-28 score. On Thursday, the Lady Indians had staved off one elimination game and the Indians suffered their first loss of the postseason.

Lady Buffaloes 48

Lady Indians 41

Comanche lost its leading scorer and leader Gracee Miller to an elbow injury early in the game and the Lady Indians found themselves in a fight the rest of the way.

Despite trailing 12-4 at the end of the first quarter, Comanche roared back in the second period to take a 20-18 halftime lead.

The Lady Indians led 33-32 at the end of the third quarter before the Lady Buffaloes outscored them 16-8 in the final quarter to get the win.

Comanche ends the season with a 14-10 record.

Scoring

Comanche (14-10): Kamrey Rendon, 13; Jentry Whaley, 11; Kynli Morris, 8; Breelie Garlinger, 4; Jaylee Roebuck, 3; Karsynn Bowles, 2

Hugo (11-13): Caliste Kelley, 15; Ke’Shawna Scroggins, 14; Don’Nai Akins, 9; Kelicia Shelton, 5; Zion Bills, 3; Riya Starlin, 2

 
Rebels 58

Indians 28

Comanche got off to a slow start and never recovered as Silo eliminated the Indians from the postseason.

Silo led 20-6 at the end of the first quarter and then limited the Indians to three points in the second quarter to take a commanding 33-9 halftime lead.

Only two Comanche players had more than one field goal in the game as the Indians struggled to find an offensive rhythm against the Rebels’ defense.

The Indians end the season under first-year head coach Anthony Bowie with a 10-14 record.

Scoring

Comanche (10-14): Briar Blair, 11; Dillon Ellis, 4; Joe Zavala, 3; Colby Shannon, 3; Jaxson Billingsley, 2; Hunter Lassley, 2; Alvarez, 2

Silo (18-10): Parker, 13; Gardner, 10; Troctor, 9; Cordell, 9; Tayloe, 8; Hammond, 3; Roberts, 3; Meindall, 1 

Thursday

Comanche 46,

Lexington 30

The Comanche Lady Indians kept their season alive with a 46-30 win over Lexington in an elimination game at the regional tournament Thursday afternoon in Purcell.

It was not always pretty, but the Lady Indians did what they had to do to dispose of the Lady Bulldogs. It was a good bounce back game after a disappointing overtime loss the previous Friday against Frederick.

“I think they responded. I think that (Frederick) game left a bad taste in their mouth last week and so they knew they wanted to come and kind of redeem themselves a little bit,” said Megan Robbins, head coach. “Gracee had 10 points, Morris had eight of nine and Kam had eight or nine and I always tell them that’s when I feel we have our best games is when everybody is contributing and doing their part.”

The Lady Bulldogs held Comanche leading scorer Gracee Miller to zero points in the first half with their box-and-one defense. They had a player in her face most of the game. Miller was able to get to the free throw line with her signature drives to the basket and eight of her 10 points came from the free-throw line.

However, the Lady Indians played good defense of their own, holding the Lady Bulldogs without a field goal the entire first half. Comanche held a 16-5 halftime lead.

“We knew what they wanted to do was go through No. 25 (Maddison Manuel), so we had good help on our rotation anytime they tried to get the ball in there and our posts did a good job of controlling her,” Robbins said. “(Overall,) I thought they did a good job and showed up ready to play.”

Comanche never trailed, scoring the first half points of the game on a putback by Kynli Morris and three-pointer by Kamrey Rendon.

Comanche led 9-4 at the end of the first quarter.

In the third quarter, Comanche extended its lead, opening up the quarter on a 13-1 run, which effectively took Lexington out of the game.

While the Lady Bulldogs kept the Lady Indians’ offense in check for much of the game, it did not come without a cost at the free-throw line. Comanche had a big advantage at the line, going 20-of-34 as a team while Lexington was 8-of-13.

The Lady Indians went on to take a 35-15 lead into the fourth quarter where Robbins tried to substitute players in as much as she could with only three players on the bench.

Scoring

Comanche (14-9): Gracee Miller, 10; Kamrey Rendon, 9; Breelie Garlinger, 8; Kynli Morris, 8; Karsynn Bowles, 5; Jentry Whaley, 4; Jillian Hushbeck, 2

Lexington (8-16): Maddison Manuel, 10; Lippel, 6; Bean, 5; Rylee Beason, 5; K. Manuel, 2; Abby Sample, 2

Dragons 67

Indians 55

The Comanche Indians gave third-ranked Purcell all it could handle before the Dragons pulled away late to claim a 67-55 win.

The Indians did not seem intimidated playing one of the top ranked teams in the state on their own floor as Comanche and Purcell traded punches in the early going. There were eight lead changes and six ties in the first half.

It wasn’t until Purcell closed out the first half on a 7-0 run, including a key three-pointer with six seconds remaining that the Dragons were able to take the lead for good. Comanche would never get closer than three points the rest of the night.

The Indians scored 16 points in the first quarter, including eight by Colby Shannon, but a late three-pointer by Purcell gave them an 18-16 lead heading into the second quarter.

Scoring slowed in the second quarter for the Indians, but they were still close before Purcell’s late run put them ahead.

Comanche was never able to make a big run in the third quarter. Purcell answered every Indian basket.

The Indians would not go away, however. Hunter Lassley, who had scored 12 points in the first half but none in the third quarter, caught fire in the fourth, knocking down three three-pointers as part of his 11 points in the quarter that helped the Indians stay close.

The Dragons, though, never allowed the Indians to get in a big run. Comanche got as close as six points twice in the final eight minutes. Briar Blair’s basket with 2:38 left in the game got the lead down to 57-51, but Purcell would answer with five straight points that effectively put the game out of reach.

Scoring

Comanche (10-13): Hunter Lassley, 23; Colby Shannon, 15; Briar Blair, 9; Corbin Bowen, 7; Dillon Ellis, 4

Purcell (23-2): Hayden Lee, 23; Malachi Evans, 18; Kobe Freeman, 14; Lincoln Eubanks, 6; Braydon Thorp, 3; Kylen DeFreeze, 3