The Class A Regional Tournament begins today at Central High.
The Ryan Cowgirls will take on Ringling in the first round of the consolation bracket of the regional tournament.
Another loss for the Cowgirls and the season will end.
Tipoff was set for 1:30 p.m. today.
The remainder of the regional will move to Union City should the Cowgirls get past the Lady Blue Devils.
The Cowgirls take an 8-15 record into today’s meeting with the Lady Blue Devils. Ringling is 10-8 on the year.
Should the Cowgirls win, they would play Friday at 6:30 p.m. at Union City.
The winner of the Ryan-Ringling contest will face the loser of Okarche and Geronimo.
Geronimo and Okarche square off tonight at 6:30 at Bridge Creek.
Okarche is 22-4 and ranked fourth in Class A, while Geronimo, an upset winner over Empire in the district finals, has a 14-13 mark for the season.
A victory in the second round of the regionals would put the Cowgirls in the consolation championship game slated for 1:30 p.m. Saturday at Union City.
For now, it is win and advance.
The Lady Blue Devils advanced to the regional tournament consolation bracket by falling to 15th-ranked Ft. Cobb-Broxton, 49-40, in the district championship game at Ft. Cobb last Saturday night.
Ringling won the only meeting with the Cowgirls in the regular season, 33-27.
Ringling won the St. Jo, Texas Invitational Tournament in December.
The Lady Blue Devils come into the regional contest having lost three of their last four contests.
The only win in those four games for Ringling came in the district semifinals over Waurika, 40-38.
Ringling’s roster is filled with both experience and youth.
The Lady Blue Devils have five seniors and seven sophomores and freshmen for first-year coach Kami Rodebush.
The Cowgirls have had a limited roster all season and currently have seven girls available entering regional play.
First-year coach Steve Spangler has relied on four sophomores and a senior for the starting lineup and Lily York has emerged as the top scorer for the Cowgirls, but Juliet Spangler and Samantha Good have also contributed points.
The Cowgirls have shown steady improvement through the year and have won three of their last five games entering the regional tournament.
The Cowgirls and Lady Blue Devils have met only once in regional tourney play. In that game, the Lady Blue Devils came out on top, 32-15, in a 1950 regional tourney game at Waurika.
