The Banner Staff
VELMA — By The Banner Staff
VELMA — The Bray-Doyle Lady Donkeys knocked off the Velma-Alma Lady Comets by a score of 39-29 in first round action at the First National Bank Comets Hoops Classic. Bray-Doyle improved its record to 6-1 while the Lady Comets fell to 1-3.
Other action from the girls’ side of the bracket saw Rush Springs knock off Carnegie 47-45 to move into the winners’ bracket. Also winning was Healdton as they defeated Verden 39-27.
Rush Springs will play Healdton at 4:20 p.m. Friday afternoon with the winner advancing to the championship game Saturday night.
Beka Gates was the star of the show in the early going. Gates scored 15 of the first 16 Lady Donkey points to give Bray-Doyle an early 16-9 lead.
The Lady Comets couldn’t find the bucket in the first two periods. They made just 4-of-26 shots in the first half.
Bray-Doyle extended the lead to 16 at the half. The Lady Donkeys made 8-of-10 free throws in the first half whereas Velma-Alma only attempted two. The Lady Comets finished with just six free throw attempts, all misses. Bray-Doyle shot 15-of-20 free throws for the game.
Gates picked up her fourth foul early in the third quarter and Lady Donkey coach Jaicee Powers was forced to sit her star for much of the rest of the game.
“With the lead we had and Beka getting in foul trouble, we had to be more patient,” Powers said. “That took us out of our game, but I was very proud of the way our girls played.”
The Lady Comets got back in the game by holding the Lady Donkeys to just four points in the third quarter. Velma-Alma pulled within eight points in the fourth quarter, but that was as close as it would get.
Gates finished the night with a game-high 19 points. Shelbi Copeland and Sarah Justus each added eight points. Justus also pulled down 10 rebounds to spark the Lady Donkey offense.
“We did a good job of getting in their passing lanes and creating turnovers,” said Powers, “but we had a lot of turnovers ourselves. We were aggressive to the basket and overall it was a great team effort.”
The Lady Donkeys will take on Amber-Pocasset in the winners’ bracket at 7 p.m. Friday night. Velma-Alma will face the Duncan J.V. girls at 1:40 p.m. with the winner moving to the consolation game Saturday afternoon.
VAHS 7 2 7 13 29
BDHS 13 12 4 10 39
VAHS — Kaitlin Anderson 12, Connor Southerland 9, Micah Thompson 6, Kaylee Sanner 2
BDHS — Beka Gates 19, Sarah Justus 8, Shelbi Copeland 8, Kaleigh Stone 2, Kendra Balthrop 2
Amber-Pocasset 77, Duncan J.V. 21
VELMA — The Duncan Lady Demon junior varsity basketball team experienced the thrill of competing in a varsity tournament when they opened against No. 1-seeded Amber-Pocasset Thursday morning. Less than half-way through the first quarter, the reality of it all crashed down on them.
The Lady Panthers made life difficult for the Lady Demons, dominating in every category to advance to the semifinals with a 77-21 win.
Am-Po shot 57 percent from the field and never trailed in the contest as eight players scored eight points or more. The Lady Demons shot 21 percent from the field and committed 28 turnovers. Trinity Scott led the team in scoring with five points.
Nine of the turnovers came in the first quarter as the Am-Po press set the Lady Demons on their heels. Zee Calvin put Duncan on the board in the first quarter on a put-back and Scott banked in a trey but the Lady Panther offense was hitting on all cylinders, lifting Am-Po to a 19-5 lead.
The Lady Panthers heated up from beyond the arc in the second quarter, converting 3-of-4 to extend the lead to 40-10 at the half.
Duncan showed signs of life at the beginning of the second half with a press but Am-Po proved to be too much as it dominated the paint and cruised to the win.
APHS 19 21 20 17 77
DHS 5 5 4 7 21
DHS — Scott 5, Ashley Gonzalez 4, Jessica Ray 3, Cassidy Bower 3, Jamesia Milton 2, Calvin 2, Anna Stark 2.
APHS — Jessi Treadaway 14, Courtney Riley 14, Eden Douglas 12, Michelle Olsen 8, Hunter Martin 8, Jamie Olsen 8, Whitney Henderson 7, Macey Sanders 6.
