It has been a busy last few days for the Ryan Cowboy and Cowgirl basketball squads.
After playing in the Healdton Tournament over the weekend, the two squads had regular season games at Bray-Doyle on Monday and Geronimo on Raymon West Court at Ryan on Tuesday.
Ryan continues the busy schedule as the regular season begins to come to a close. The Cowboys and Cowgirls are slated to travel to Turner tonight and will return to action at Grandfield on Monday. Action begins at 6:30 on both nights.
In Tuesday’s contests, Geronimo took a 41-37 decision over the Cowgirls, while the Blue Jays completed the sweep with a 58-42 victory over the Cowboys.
The Cowgirls and Cowboys split the twinbill with Bray-Doyle. The Cowgirls picked up a 55-42 win over the Lady Donkeys, while the Cowboys dropped a tough 45-35 loss to Bray-Doyle.
One of the highlights on Tuesday night was a second Cowgirl was cited for joining the 1,000-point club during this season. Lily York, who reached the mark earlier, was honored after scoring her first points of the night.
The Cowgirls, however, struggled throughout most of the game on Tuesday against the Lady Blue Jays. Geronimo established a 10-5 lead after the first quarter and then found themselves trailing, 23-14, at the intermission.
In the third quarter, the Cowgirls mounted a rally with a 17-5 run that saw Ryan take the lead at 31-28 after three quarters.
However, the task of playing five games in six nights caught up with the Cowgirls in the fourth quarter as they could not maintain the lead and Geronimo outscored the Cowgirls, 13-6.
Samantha Good, the other Cowgirl to reach the 1,000 point plateau, was the top scorer for the Cowgirls with 13 points, while Juliet Spangler added 11 tallies.
The Cowgirls have now lost six of the last seven meetings with the Lady Blue Jays.
The Cowboys fell to Geronimo for the sixth time in the past seven meetings and it was their fourth straight loss of this season.
The game was essentially decided in the first quarter as Geronimo used a 17-3 run to build a big lead.
The Cowboys were able to trim the deficit to 26-19 by halftime, but could not continue the rally.
The Blue Jays outscored the Cowboys, 19-11, in the third quarter to lead 45-30 and ensure there would be no come-from-behind success for the Cowboys on this night.
Andrew Villerreal and Landen Alexander each had 10 points for the Cowboys.
The Cowboys struggled at the free throw line as they connected on only 12 of 23 attempts from the charity stripe.
In Monday’s game at Bray-Doyle, the Cowgirls got off to a slow start.
Really it was more like an awful start as the Lady Donkeys built a 17-7 lead early in the game, but the Cowgirls rallied through the next three quarters to secure the win.
Free throw shooting can make a difference in a game as many contests are won and lost at the charity stripe.
One of the reasons for the slow start by the Cowgirls was only 4 of 12 shooting from the free throw line – a 33% mark.
Meanwhile, Bray-Doyle was a perfect six of six at the free throw line and that helped the Lady Donkeys to gain the early lead.
But, one of the key factors in the Cowgirl rally was sharper shooting at the free throw line in the second half as they connected on 13 of 16 free throws.
The Cowgirls actually took a narrow 20-19 lead into the intermission.
A 14-6 run in the third quarter helped the Cowgirls get control of the game as they led, 34-25, heading into the final quarter.
The Cowgirl offense came alive in the fourth quarter with 21 points and while they gave up 17 to the Lady Donkeys, the Cowgirls secured the 13-point win.
Three Cowgirls were in double figures. York was the top scorer for the Cowgirls with 20 points – including six of six free throws in the final quarter.
Good contributed 13 and Spangler added 11 points for the Cowgirls.
The 55 points against Bray-Doyle by the Cowgirls is the most since the 1992 season and the two teams have split the last six meetings.
There was no come-from-behind story for the Cowboys, however, as Bray-Doyle was able to pick up its first win of the season.
The Donkeys sped to a 19-8 lead after the first quarter and managed to thwart any hope of a Cowboy rally.
Marshall Loveday led the Donkey offensive output in the first quarter with 12 of his game-high 19 points coming in the initial quarter.
The Cowboys cut into the lead before the half with an 11-6 advantage in the second quarter to leave the deficit for the Cowboys at 25-19 at the half.
It was a brutal third quarter that sealed the Cowboys’ fate as they managed only three points in the quarter. The Donkeys were able to extend the lead to 34-22 at the end of the period.
The Cowboys were able to gain a 13-11 scoring advantage in the fourth quarter, but could not overcome the Bray-Doyle lead.
Below average free throw shooting helped prevent any hope of a Ryan comeback as the Cowboys connected on only nine of 20 free throws for the game.
Villarreal and Grayson Tomberlin paced the Cowboys in scoring with eight points each.
The Cowboys have now lost three straight to the Donkeys.
