Lady Bulldogs win back-to-back titles

MARLOW - The Empire Lady Bulldogs put together a dominating performance to win their second straight Stephens County Tournament on Saturday downing Ryan in the final, 62-38.

“I’m really proud of these girls,” said Jaicee Powers, head coach. “We lost four seniors last year and a lot of people counted us out. We’re just a group of tough-minded, hard-working individuals. These girls work as hard as anybody every day and we’re continuing to get better with each game and with each practice. Our defense has really stepped up the last few games, and we make it hard on people to score.”

The Lady Bulldogs became just the ninth girls’ team in the 95-year history of the tournament to score 200 points in the tournament. They scored 67 points in the opener against Bray-Doyle and 62 points each against Velma-Alma and Ryan for 201 total points while only allowing 75 points.

Chazli Massey got the Lady Bulldogs rolling in the first quarter with 10 of Empire’s 19 points in the quarter, taking a 19-8 lead into the second quarter.

After a basket by Ryan to open the second, Empire rattled off eight straight points to increase its lead to 15 points. Kenzie Bracken accounted for six of those points, including two putbacks off of offensive rebounds.

Empire went on to take a commanding 33-12 halftime lead.

Powers credits the defense for getting the offense going.

“Our defense leads to a lot of offense and I think the way we’ve been scoring lately says a lot about this group because we graduated 75 percent of our scoring from last year,” Powers said. “So a lot of younger girls have had to step up and take on some big-time roles. And, they’ve done that and I’ve been really proud of them.”

Ryan, the No. 2 seed, could never make a run in the second half. The Cowgirls’ biggest run in the final two quarters against Empire’s starters was five points. 

Empire would take a 51-24 lead into the final quarter where they would go on to win by 24.

Several Empire players were named to the all-tournament team. Keira Pineda, Empire’s lone senior starter, was named MVP for her three-day performance. 

Chazli Massey won the Hustle Award and Sarah Vanderburg won the Sixth Man Award. Chanlie Rochell was named to the All-Tournament team. 

With their success this season featuring a 14-1 record and a No. 13 ranking in Class A, Powers thinks the tournament result will give her team a confidence boost as the postseason nears.

“We had only beat Velma by eight points a week ago, then to beat them by close to 30 on Thursday night and Ryan is a good, solid team,” Powers said. “We came out and I felt like we were in control the whole game and it should give these girls a lot of confidence and all the hours they put in are worth it. No one works harder than this group of girls.”