DUNCAN — The Empire girls didn’t get off to the start they were looking for in their first road game this season, but as the shots started to fall in the second half Tuesday night, the Lady Bulldogs pulled away from Waurika for a 45-36 victory.

“Offensively we didn’t execute like we should have,” Empire coach Jason Allensworth said. “Defensively we did a pretty good job, but we have to do better on the boards. They beat us on the boards tonight.”

Junior Melaina Yearby led Empire (3-0) with 15 points, while senior Alyssa George had nine, junior Kaelyn Allensworth had eight, senior Ashley Atkinson added five and junior Jessica Carney chipped in with six.

Junior Courtland Henderson led the Lady Eagles (0-2) with eight points, while senior Staci Brandon had seven, junior Karrington Morris and sophomore Megan Wade each had six, junior Daley Gay added five and sophomore Kianah Swift finished with four.

The game was tied 10-10 after the first quarter before Empire inched ahead 19-17 by halftime. In the third quarter the Lady Bulldogs began to put the game out of reach as they pushed out to a 35-25 lead.

“We were rushing our shots and rushing our opportunities early in the game,” Allensworth said. “We made some halftime adjustments and they relaxed and we flowed more. And in the second half Melaina shot the ball better and hit two 3-pointers.”

Empire hosts Granfield on Friday, while Waurika hosts Temple on Dec. 4.

STERLING 47, CENTRAL HIGH 33

If there’s one thing the Lady Bronchos haven’t had a problem doing this season, it’s scoring points.

Unfortunately, against No. 10 Sterling scoring was non-existent, at least in the third quarter.

After being tied with the Lady Tigers after the first quarter, CHHS only managed seven points in the second and was shutout in the third as SHS came away with a 48-33 victory inside Broncho Gymnasium.

Sterling managed to pull away in the third quarter, leading 35-20 before putting the game away in the fourth quarter.

No other information was available.

Central High will be back at home Friday night taking on Ninnekah with tip-off set for 6:30 p.m.



BOYS

STERLING 53, CENTRAL 51

The Bronchos had a chance to win and they took it.

After a pair of free throws with five seconds left gave Sterling a two-point lead, Central High wasn’t looking for overtime, it was looking for a victory, tossing up a 3-pointer just before the buzzer. The shot, though, was off the mark.

“We played a really, really good ball game, and we were right there with a chance to win,” Central High coach John Nease said. “It was a very physical, rough game.

“There were loose ball and rebounds that could have gone either way,” he added. “We showed we can play with anybody.”

Senior Dallin Ferrin paced Central High (1-2) with 23 points, while juniors Kevin Harris and John Repp had 11 and six points, respectively. Senior Connor Albiston added three points.

The Bronchos were tied at 15 with Sterling at the end of the first quarter and fell behind 29-27 at halftime and 43-40 going into the fourth quarter.

Central High will be back in action Friday as they host Ninnekah.

WAURIKA 44, EMPIRE 27

For the Empire Bulldogs, the third game proved to be anything but a charm Tuesday night.

Three straight quarters of single digit scoring proved to be too much to overcome as the Waurika Eagles handed EHS its first defeat of the season, 44-27 in Waurika.

28 points in the first half propelled the Eagles to a 28-12 halftime advantage, as WHS managed to shoot 39 percent from the field, while balancing the attack with a solid 47 percent shooting percentage from the free throw line.

Empire struggled to find its strong offense, which scored 47 points Monday night against Bray-Doyle.

Leading the scoring for the Eagles on the evening was Austin Masoner, who led all scorers with 15 points followed by Mason Wilkerson with 10 points. Garrett Bachand and Leo Roberts each scored five points on the evening.

Empire was paced by Drew Ferguson with eight points followed by Tanner Ford with six points.

Friday night will see Empire at home against Grandfield, while Waurika will be back in action Dec. 4 against Temple at home.