Ben Whitehead
The start and finish was near perfect, but it was everything in the middle that haunted the Duncan Lady Demons Monday night.
Tagayla Lee scored 27 points and led Ardmore past Duncan 48-44 as the Lady Tigers improved to 5-12 on the season. D’Shala Culberson had 14 points for the Lady Demons who fell to 4-13.
Duncan got off to a fast start. Hannah Allen drilled a 3-pointer on the Lady Demons’ first possession of the game. Jamesia Milton came off the bench and scored four points and the Lady Demons led 10-3 early on.
But Ardmore got things rolling and took an 11-10 lead in the second quarter. The Lady Tigers took a 16-15 lead at the break before exploding in the second half.
Lee scored nine straight points for the Lady Tigers. She scored a four-point play after knocking down a 3-pointer and getting fouled. The Lady Tigers went on a 12-0 run to take control of the game with a 39-28 lead.
“We just missed a lot of lay-ups tonight,” Duncan coach Andrew McClung said. “For these girls to practice and play so hard and not see any fruit for their labor is frustrating.”
The Lady Demons tried to climb out of the deep hole late in the game. Culberson got fouled while making a shot under the basket. The three-point play pulled Duncan within eight, but Shara McBroom answered on the other end of the court with a trey to push the lead back to 11.
Duncan got back within nine when Brooklyn Scott knocked down a 3-pointer. A Lady Tiger free throw made it a seven-point game.
Britton Scott hit a 3-pointer to get the Lady Demons within four, but time ran down and Ardmore walked away with the win.
“We were 3-of-23 from beyond the arc and 13-of-28 from the foul line,” said McClung. “Even with the one girl scoring 27 if we just hit anything we win that game.
“This is game number seven that we have lost by single digits. We’re struggling to shoot and hit our shots. D’Shala is sitting down in the paint with two or three girls on her. Someone’s open and we just need to take those shots or they are going to continue to sit down there on her (Culberson).”
Milton finished the game with six points and 10 rebounds off the bench. Duncan hosts Altus tonight at 6 p.m. and will get another crack at the Lady Tigers when they travel to Ardmore Friday night.
— Ben Whitehead is a sports writer for The Duncan Banner. He can be reached at 255-5354, Ext. 165, or via e-mail at ben.whitehead@duncanbanner.com.
