Oklahoma 4A girls quarterfinals: Bethany very impressive as Lady Bronchos seek title repeat
OKLAHOMA CITY - Bethany coach Eric Sailer has done everything possible to prepare his squad for this time of the year.
That includes taking the defending 4A champions all the way to Washington, D.C. to make sure they got a variety of different looks from some of the best teams in the country.
Now that the Lady Bronchos are in the heat of the postseason as they seek to defend their title, it’s going to be up to the players on the court to bring the gold ball back home.
The journey started Thursday morning with a 53-32 victory over Tuttle in the 4A quarterfinals at the State Fairgrounds Arena.
“This year, we really amped up our schedule. We played some of the top teams in the nation and we learned a lot about ourselves,” Sailer said. “We learned a lot about crunch time. We learned a lot about situational basketball.
"Our shots weren't falling very well (Thursday) morning, but I felt like we stuck to our guns. We found ways to score.”
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The Lady Tigers attempted to take the air out of the ball from the opening tip as they passed the ball around the court for more than a minute before taking a shot. But even with that tactic, they were unable to keep the Lady Bronchos at bay for long.
Led by the dynamic backcourt of Zya Vann and Keziah Lofton, Bethany jumped out to an 18-5 first-quarter advantage. Tuttle never threatened the defending 4A champions for the rest of the game.
Bethany held Tuttle to 37 percent shooting on the day. They also forced the Lady Tigers into 16 turnovers. Vann had five steals by herself.
“I know defense is more important than offense,” Vann said. “I knew that in order to really get up in the game and score a lot of points, I really just had to put a lot of pressure on the defensive end.”
Vann led all scorers with 21 points on 7-of-10 shooting to go with six rebounds. Despite not scoring in the second half, Lofton still posted 10 points. Talia Vann added nine points, four rebounds and a blocked shot.
Tuttle’s Allie Rehl ended her prep career with 16 points and seven rebounds.
Bethany will face Oklahoma City Douglass Friday in another 9 a.m. contest. Even though the teams haven’t met this season, Sailer knows his squad will have their hands full.
“I really believe we'll shoot better. A team like Douglass, they want to get out and pressure you and they want to make you play fast and they want to make you make bad choices with the basketball,” Sailer said. “So we'll just have to make sure that we're getting to spots on the floor so that we're available to the pass so the press and the traps won't affect us.”
OKC Douglass 66, Inola 40
The fourth-seeded Trojanettes from Douglass took care of business against Inola to pick up their first state tournament victory in the Big House since 1992.
N’Kiyah Burge was dominant from the outset. The 6-foot guard had a game-high 24 points, 15 rebounds and four steals.
Kiara Smith chipped in with 18 points on 7-of-13 shooting.
Miller Weast paced the Lady Longhorns with 14 points while Addison Mootry connected for 12 points before fouling out.
In the most recent OSSAA rankings, Douglass was listed as the 16th best team in Class 4A despite posting a 20-3 record. They haven’t lost since a 65-57 defeat to Norman North (6A) at the Putnam City Invitational on Jan. 5.
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Coming off last season’s 3-16 record, it would have been hard to imagine Douglass being one step away from a spot in the title game.
“It has been mind over matter. It has been a lot of hard work, a process of trusting out of the young ladies,” Douglass coach Latesha Woods said. “Just hard work and dedication for these young ladies has been the main goal, because I haven’t taken it easy on them.
"I haven’t taken my foot off the gas as far as practicing and the expectations because there is a lot of weight to carry. But they did a wonderful job showcasing themselves and making it to this point. So I am very proud.”
When they face the defending 4A champions in the semifinals Friday, it will be the highest-ranked squad Douglass has faced this year.
“I want them to come in and focused and giving it all they got,” Woods said.
-- Michael Kinney | @SBLiveOK
