Lady Indians rally falls short

The Comanche Lady Indians mounted a furious second-half comeback but fell just short in their home opener against Pauls Valley, 38-33, last Tuesday.

Comanche had problems against Pauls Valley’s pressure defense in the first half, leading to several turnovers and allowing Pauls Valley to take the lead and keep it most of the game.

After Comanche had opened with a 2-0 lead on a basket by Raelee Ellis, the Lady Panthers closed out the quarter on an 8-0 run that carried over into part of a 15-0 run in second quarter that pushed the lead to 15-2.

The Lady Indians did manage to end the quarter with a 4-2 advantage that made the halftime score 17-6.

Comanche came out on fire in the third, scoring the first seven points of the quarter, as four different Lady Indians contributed. The run allowed Comanche to cut the lead to 17-13 before the Lady Panthers got back on track to close out the quarter on a 6-2 run to take a 23-15 lead into the final quarter. 

Pauls Valley looked to have the game well under control, extending their lead to 32-17 with 3:57 remaining. A combination of a hot hand by Ellis and poor free throw shooting by Pauls Valley (6-of-16 in the final period) allowed the Lady Indians to claw their way back into the game. 

Ellis scored nine of her game-high 13 points in the quarter, five of which came on back-to-back possessions that cut the lead to 36-30 with 37 seconds remaining.

The Lady Panthers would get a couple of crucial free throws in the final 20 seconds to stay ahead by more than one possession. Comanche got as close as 37-33 with 10.8 seconds left on a three-pointer by Jentry Whaley, but the Lady Panthers were able to seal the win.

The Indians kept pace with the Panthers for three quarters, but a big advantage to the visitors in the second quarter proved to be the difference.

The game was tied at 13-all after the first period, but Pauls Valley came out in the second and took control, outscoring Comanche 22-7 in the quarter to take a 35-20 halftime lead.

It was an even battle throughout the second half with both teams scoring 29 points and the Panthers leaving with the win.