Michael Pineda
VELMA — The Velma-Alma Comet basketball teams celebrated Senior Night with a couple of wins over Ringling.
The Lady Comets broke open a close game in the second half and cruised to a 36-23 win to improve to 12-9. In the boys game, Dallen Mercer scored 10 of his game-high 22 points in the second quarter as Velma-Alma took control of the contest and picked up a 58-33 win.
“What is amazing to me is how fast the season has gone,” Velma-Alma coach Kenny Bare said. “It seems just like yesterday I got them from football.
“We have taken giant steps but now everyone is 0-0. I think we are ready for a playoff run.”
The Comets came out hot from the field, hitting their first three shots to take a 7-0 lead. Ringling was able to overcome turnover problems and take an 11-9 lead which would be the high point of the night.
Velma-Alma scored the last four points of the quarter to take a 13-11 lead and took it up a notch in the second quarter with 18 points while forcing eight turnovers. Andrew Stoker attempted to keep Ringling in the game with four points in the quarter but Mercer scored his 10.
Dillon Dennis open the second half with a 3-pointer for the Comets, who continued to attack the paint. Mercer scored eight points and Trenten Files began to assert himself with four.
Bare emptied the bench in the fourth quarter with the Comets up 50-27 and had no problem wrapping up the win.
Mercer finished with 23 and Dennis had nine. Files and Frank Johnson each had six for V-A, which improved to 17-4 with the win.
The Lady Comets were forced to depend on their defense for the majority of their offense in the 36-23 win. Velma-Alma finished 0-for-15 from beyond the arc but got a strong game inside from Hillary Tivis, who finished with 18 points. Kaylee Sanner added 10 to lead V-A to the win.
“We didn’t shoot the ball well,” Velma-Alma coach Jerry Garrett said. “We had some good looks and our defense played hard. We went to a full-court man and most of our points came from our defense. We have to shoot the ball better.”
Velma-Alma came out in a zone and Ringling was patient in finding openings for good looks at the basket. The pace of the game was slow in the first quarter with the Lady Comets taking a 9-5 lead.
The game stayed close throughout the second quarter as V-A extended the lead to 19-14. It was turnovers that ultimately proved to be Ringling’s undoing. The Lady Blue Devils gave it away seven times in the third quarter and Velma-Alma was more aggressive on the offensive end, getting extra looks through rebounding.
Ringling was limited in its field goal attempts in the final quarter and was unable to cut into the lead as Velma-Alma picked up the win in its final regular season game of the year.
— Michael Pineda is the sports editor for The Duncan Banner. He can be reached at 580-255-5354, Ext. 143, or via e-mail at m.pineda@duncanbanner.com.
