While the Ryan Cowboys snapped a long losing streak last Thursday against Thackerville, it was still a difficult weekend for the Ryan squads.
Last Thursday, Thackerville edged the Cowgirls, 36-33, while the Cowboys scored a 42-39 victory over the Wildcats on Raymon West Court to end a six-game skid.
Ryan traveled to Healdton last Friday and fell in both contests. The Lady Bulldogs took advantage of poor shooting by the Cowgirls to gain a 43-26 verdict.
Healdton, 18-2 on the year and ranked 18th in Class 2A, rolled to a 48-13 victory over the Cowboys.
Against Healdton, the Cowgirls got off to a tough start falling behind the Lady Bulldogs, 9-1, after one quarter.
All of Healdton’s first-quarter points came on three converted long range field goals.
The Cowgirls battled the Lady Bulldogs on even terms in the second quarter and were competitive most of the rest of the game trailing by 15 points with just three minutes to play.
Ultimately it was the first quarter deficit that was too much to overcome.
Lily York led the Cowgirls in scoring with 10 points.
Coach Steve Spangler’s Cowgirls are still playing without one starter.
The Cowgirls have lost nine straight to the Lady Bulldogs dating back to the 1993 season.
The Cowboys were short-handed also as two starters were missing against Healdton with illness.
Healdton got off to an impressive start and took a 14-3 lead after the first quarter.
The Bulldogs struggled, however, in the second quarter, but the Cowboys could not trim the margin and trailed 19-5 at the half.
For the second time this season the Cowboys came out of the intermission and could not score a point. The Bulldogs went on a 16-0 run in the period for an insurmountable 35-5 lead heading into the final frame.
The Cowboys broke the scoring drought, but Healdton still managed to outscore Ryan, 13-8, to set the final margin.
The 13 points scored in the game is the second fewest in school history and is the fewest since recording only 15 points in a 1988 encounter with Sulphur.
Dawson Tomberlin was the leading scorer for Coach Judd Matthes’ squad with seven points.
The Cowboys have lost six of the last eight meetings with the Bulldogs dating back to the 1993 season.
In the game with Thackerville, the Cowgirls trailed by a 9-5 count after the first quarter and again it was hot outside shooting by the Lady Wildcats that doomed the Cowgirls.
Thackerville’s nine points came on three treys.
Thackerville was able to increase the margin to 20-15 at the half before the Cowgirls came alive after the halftime break and managed to narrow the score to 26-24 at the end of the third quarter.
In the fourth quarter, the Wildcats sealed the victory by scoring the last seven points from the free throw line. The Cowgirls could not cut into the deficit in the final frame thanks to missing three of five charity tosses.
York finished with 17 points for the Cowgirls and she was responsible for all five of Ryan’s first quarter point total.
Thackerville moved to 15-3 after this win.
The Cowgirls are 25-13 against Thackerville in the last 38 meetings, but have now lost two in a row to the Lady Wildcats.
The Cowboys established a seven-point lead after the first quarter and were able to extend the lead to 20-11 at intermission.
The Wildcats cut into the lead in the third quarter and trailed only 30-24 heading to the fourth quarter.
The Cowboys could not shake the Wildcats mainly because of a struggle at the free throw line.
For the entire game, Ryan only converted on 35% of its free throw attempts.
Skyler Parkhill led the Cowboys in scoring with 14 points and he scored five of the Cowboys’ eight first-quarter points and was the only player for the Cowboys to score in every quarter.
It was the fourth win in a row for the Cowboys over the Wildcats.
The Cowboys and Cowgirls were to have met Geronimo last Tuesday on Raymon West Court.
Both squads return to action tonight by traveling to Burneyville to face Turner for a doubleheader.
Tomorrow night will be Senior Night for the Cowgirl and Cowboy basketball teams as they play host to Temple.
Ryan will finish the regular season on Tuesday as they travel to Empire.
The Class A District Tournament will begin on February 9 at Central High
