Second half surge lifts Lady Indians

The Comanche Lady Indians came out of the locker room after halftime a different team than when they went on. After only scoring nine points in the first half, the Lady Indians found the winning formula and overpowered visiting Bridge Creek in the second half for a 41-20 victory last Friday.

Comanche head coach Braydon Robinson said it was just a matter of finding the right places to attack the Lady Bobcats’ defense.

“At halftime, we talked about where the holes were in their zone, it was the corners and high post,” Robinson said. “We got the ball down to the corners, the high posts and where it needed to be, so we started scoring some points.”

Fortunately for the Lady Indians, while their offense was missing in the first half, their defense was not. They limited Bridge Creek to 10 points in the first half to trail by just one point at the half. They held them to 10 points again in the second half, allowing Comanche to make its big run.

“We played really well defensively,” Robinson said. “We did much better this time than last time (a 44-37 road loss on Dec. 10). Last time we got hurt on their penetration, fouled them a bunch, put them on the line, and today, our focus was just making them shoot over the top of us and not putting them on the free throw line. We did a good job of that.”

The Lady Indians held the Lady Bobcats to seven total field goals in the game with only two coming in the second half and none in the fourth quarter.

After Bridge Creek scored quickly to go up 12-9 to start the third quarter, Comanche point guard Raelee Ellis hit back-to-back three-pointers. The first one tied the game, and the second one not only gave Comanche the lead for the first time but also gave them the lead for good. They would be two of the four treys she hit in the game on her way to a game-high 15 points. 

Ellis led a balanced scoring attack with three Lady Indians finishing in double figures. 

Jaylee Roebuck scored 12 points and Jentry Whaley scored 11. Ten of Roebuck’s points came in the second half and all 11 of Whaley’s points came in the second half.

The three-pointers started a 21-point third quarter with the Lady Indians taking control with a 28-17 lead heading into the final eight minutes.

Comanche put the game away early in the fourth, scoring the first six points to build a 33-17 lead halfway through the quarter.

The game had begun on a somber note. A Bridge Creek student-athlete had died earlier in the day. Before the game, Comanche players gave Bridge Creek players blue hair ribbons to wear in her honor and the teams also joined together at midcourt for a prayer.

Comanche played toe-to-toe with Bridge Creek for the first 22 minutes of the game before the Bobcats caught fire late and pulled away for the win.

There were two ties and three lead changes before Bridge Creek took the lead for good with less than a minute to play in the third quarter. 

Comanche had quickly fallen behind 8-0 in the first quarter when Comanche coach Anthony Bowie called a timeout to settle his troops. The pause in action did the Indians good as they cut the lead to 8-5 at the end of the first quarter and then opened the second on a 13-2 run, giving the Indians an 18-10 advantage. The Indians would lead by as many as 11 points in the quarter before the Bobcats took advantage at the free-throw line, going 6-for-6 in the final 1:09 in addition to a steal and layup with two seconds remaining in the half that cut the lead to 25-22.

The Bobcats had a size and rebounding advantage and they used it in the second half. Comanche rarely got more than one shot opportunity per trip down the floor, but the Indians managed to stay with the Bobcats. 

Comanche led 35-32 with 2:03 left in the third quarter when Bridge Creek took control, finishing the quarter on an 11-0 run that gave them a 43-35 lead heading into the fourth quarter.

Comanche was never able to find its offense in the final eight minutes, going scoreless, while the Bobcats steadily increased their lead to win by 21.