The Waurika Eagles and Lady Eagles traveled to Ryan Tuesday night and came away with the sweep of the Cowboys and Cowgirls on Raymon West Court.
The Lady Eagles built a big lead and were never challenged as Waurika claimed a 53-24 victory in the opening game of the evening.
The Eagles used a strong second half to build a small cushion and downed the Cowboys, 43-36, in the nightcap.
Waurika returns to action Friday when they travel to Geronimo for a doubleheader. Tipoff for the girls’ game will be 6:30 p.m.
Next Tuesday the Waurika squads will travel to Temple to battle the Tigers and Lady Tigers. The girls’ game will tip at 6:30 p.m.
One week from today Waurika will begin play in the Southwest Shootout hosted by Chattanooga. Brackets were not drawn in time for this edition of the paper.
Ryan will see action next on Tuesday when they will travel to Thackerville for a twinbill. The girls’ game will start at 6:30 p.m.
The Cowboys and Cowgirls will participate in the Black and Gold Classic one week from today.
The Cowgirls will see action at 4 p.m. against Springer in the first round of the tourney, while the Cowboys will take on Temple at 2:30 p.m. on Thursday.
The semifinals for the Cowgirls if they win would be at 4 p.m. one week from tomorrow and a loss would send the Cowgirls to the consolation semifinals at 10 a.m. on Friday.
Should the Cowboys defeat Temple in the first round, they would take the court Friday at 5:20 p.m. A first-round loss would mean an 11:30 a.m. game on Friday in the consolation semifinals.
The season opener for the Lady Eagles was a good one as they used their athleticism and height to pull away early against the Cowgirls.
The Cowgirls actually scored the first two points of the opening quarter on Jasmine Villarreal’s layup with 7:01 to play in the first quarter.
From there, Waurika took charge and finished the first quarter on a 15-2 run to hold a 15-4 advantage.
The Lady Eagles took advantage of 13 Ryan turnovers in the first quarter to gain the big lead.
Maci Cooper would drain a three-pointer early in the second quarter to pull the Cowgirls to within eight at 15-7, but that would be the closest the Cowgirls would get the rest of the contest.
Waurika closed out the half with a 17-3 blitz that was fueled by Liberti Simmons scoring seven of the Lady Eagles’ 17 points.
The Lady Eagles used the run to put together a 32-10 advantage at the intermission.
In the third quarter, the Cowgirls opened the second half with a 6-0 run, but Waurika responded with a 13-1 advantage that really sealed the contest for the Lady Eagles as they led 45-17 at the end of the third quarter.
In the fourth quarter, Waurika coach Garett Bachand took advantage of the comfortable lead and used his bench to close out the game. The Lady Eagles outscored Ryan, 8-7, in the fourth quarter to establish the final margin.
Simmons led all scorers with 21 points and she was the only Lady Eagle in double figures.
The Cowgirls, who never scored in double figures in any quarter, were led in scoring by Villarreal’s 10 points.
The Lady Eagles held a huge advantage on the boards, 62-30.
The Cowgirls committed 30 turnovers, while the Lady Eagles turned the ball over 18 times.
In the nightcap, the game was a battle throughout until the Eagles built an eight-point lead in early in the fourth quarter and were able to hold off the Cowboys to get the first win of the season.
The eight-point margin was Waurika’s biggest lead of the game and they held it twice in the fourth quarter.
The Cowboys had the lead throughout much of the first half, but could never stretch their lead to more than five points – once late in the first quarter and another time late in the second quarter.
Braeden Bergeron got the Cowboys on the scoreboard first with a put back shot and Racen Williams hit one of two free throws to give Ryan a 3-0 lead with 6:36 left in the first quarter.
The Eagles hit a pair of free throws by Jake Smart and a bucket by Trenton Torrez to seize the lead, 4-3, with 5:24 left in the first frame.
It was Williams’ three-pointer that stretched the Cowboy lead to 11-6 with 50 seconds left in the first quarter, but Waurika scored the final two points on a pair of free throws by Torrez with 21 seconds left to cut the Ryan lead to 11-8 and that is how the quarter ended.
Smart’s layup at the 4:59 mark of the second period tied the scored, but Xavier Guzman’s trey and a layup by Will Townsend extended the Cowboys’ advantage to 18-13 with 2:38 remaining in the second quarter.
Waurika scored the final four points of the quarter as Smart got a steal and a layup at the 1:02 mark and Smart added another layup with 44.2 seconds left to pull the Eagles within one, 18-17, at the half.
The Eagles threatened to pull away in the opening moments of the third quarter, but the Cowboys remained close until Torrez knocked down a pair of free throws to give Waurika a 28-22 lead with 4:53 left.
Guzman nailed a three-pointer from the corner to cut the Eagles’ lead to 28-25, but Isaac Camarillo got a layup to give Waurika a 30-25 advantage.
A short jumper by Guzman pulled Ryan to within 30-27 and a long three-pointer by Williams tied the game with 22.4 seconds left in the third quarter.
The Eagles snared the lead when Ben Porterfield hit a layup with just seven ticks remaining in the third quarter to put Waurika in front, 32-30.
A 7-2 run in the early moments of the fourth quarter by the Eagles provided the advantage Waurika needed to pull away from the pesky Cowboys.
Smart’s three-pointer at the 5:25 mark of the fourth quarter gave Waurika a 39-31 lead.
Carsen Rodriguez hit a free throw for the Cowboys to trim the lead to seven, but Torrez answered with a free throw putting Waurika in front, 40-32, with just 2:15 remaining in the game.
The Cowboys were stymied in the fourth quarter as they went without a field goal and the only two points in the final two minutes for Ryan were a pair of free throws by Julian Rodriguez.
In the final 43 seconds, Waurika secured the victory by hitting three of four free throws giving the Eagles a seven-point win.
Smart led all scorers with 16 points and Torrez chipped in 15 points for the Eagles.
The Cowboys had only one player in double figures – Guzman garnered 11 points to lead Ryan in scoring.
The rebounding margin was as close as the game with Waurika holding a slight 39-36 edge on the boards.
The Eagles committed 18 turnovers, while Ryan recorded 14 turnovers in the game.
RIVALRY NOTES: The Lady Eagles scored their 12th straight victory over the Cowgirls….The Lady Eagles lead the series, 41-22, since 1988….With the win by the Eagles, Waurika increased its advantage in the series to 38-27 since the 1988 season….Waurika has won six of the last seven meetings with the Cowboys….The 36 points scored by the Cowboys is tied for the eighth fewest points against the Eagles since 1988….The 43 points by the Eagles is the fewest in a victory since a 38-33 win in the 2012 season.
WAURIKA 53,
RYAN 24
(Girls)
Waurika 15,17,1,38—53
Ryan 4, 6, 7, 7—24
WAURIKA (1-0): Liberti Simmons 8-4-21, Jasmine Henry 4-0-8, Cassidie Berry 3-0-6, Charley Sellers 2-0-5, Jaden Williams 2-0-4, Destiny Foster 1-0-3, Rylee Torrez 1-0-2, Jaci Gholson 1-0-2, Becky Mataska 1-0-2. TOTALS: 23-4-53. PF: 22; Three-pointers: Simmons, Sellers, Foster.
RYAN (0-1): Jasmine Villarreal 4-1-10, Maci Cooper 1-2-5, Kamrie Hernandez 1-0-2, Kylee Charmasson 1-0-2, Emily Harris 0-2-2, Lirin Tucker 0-1-1, Raylee White 0-1-1, Libby Carter 0-1-1. TOTALS: 7-8-24. PF: 12; Three-pointers: Villarreal.
WAURIKA 43,
RYAN 36
(Boys)
Waurika 8, 9,15,11—43
Ryan 11,7,12, 6—36
WAURIKA (1-0): Jake Smart 5-5-16, Treyton Torrez 3-9-15, Ben Porterfield 4-0-8, Isaac Camarillo 1-2-4. TOTALS: 13-16-43. PF: 18; Three-pointers: Smart.
RYAN (0-1): Xavier Guzman 4-1-11, Julian Rodriguez 2-5-9, Racen Williams 2-1-7, Braeden Bergeron 2-0-4, Carsen Rodriguez 1-1-3, Will Townsend 1-0-2. TOTALS: 12-8-36. PF: 16; Three-pointers: Guzman 2, Williams 2.
