BETHANY – The Lady Bronchos’ road to back-to-back Class 4A state championships finally gets underway on the court Thursday (Feb. 22) against Elk City.

For Bethany coach Eric Sailer, another title would be the crowning achievement in a year full of milestones.

One of those milestones was winning the Western Athletic Conference, something that eluded last year’s state title team because of a loss to Class 4A rival Tuttle.

The loss on Jan. 10, 2023 to the Lady Tigers is Bethany’s last loss to a Class 4A opponent.

“The girls wanted to win the conference this year,” Sailer said via email. “That was one of our goals for sure. We believe our conference year in and year out is the toughest in the state, so this was a huge honor.”

Bethany (20-4 overall) finished the conference slate at 11-0, winning the first conference title in school history.

The Lady Bronchos’ four losses this season came to the top-ranked team in Class 6A in Arkansas, Fort Smith Northside (who is now 25-3), Edmond North (No. 1 in Oklahoma Class 6A), Morris Catholic, New Jersey (who is ranked No. 8 in the nation by ESPN) and St. John’s Catholic in Washington, D.C. (a team who has been nationally-ranked).

Bethany secured a home-court advantage in the district and regional playoffs. They won by forfeit in districts because their opponent, Clinton, did not have enough healthy players.

“There is a lot of hard work involved in hosting playoff games, but we are willing to do it if we get a chance to play in front of our own crowd,” Sailer said.

Bethany has twelve players on the roster that won the gold ball last spring.

“I think our team has tunnel vision,” Sailer said. “They are very focused on the playoffs and they know the importance of every game. I did have to remind them the other day to try to enjoy the ride. You only get four chances to do this in high school.” 

Senior Zya Vann, an Oklahoma signee, leads the team, averaging 19.8 points a game, Junior Keziah Lofton is averaging 19 points a contest. Lofton, an Oklahoma commit, reached the 1,000-point mark in the season opener against Kingfisher (Dec. 5).

Another junior, Kayten Donley, is averaging 12.5 points a game.

In 23 games on the court, Bethany is averaging 74.1 points a game. The Lady Bronchos’ point total in a game has only been below 50 points twice this season.

Despite the dominant season and eye-popping numbers, Sailer knows the playoffs are different.

“In the playoffs records go out the window. It is one game at a time,” Sailer said. “You can’t look too far ahead, you have to focus on the game at hand.”

ZYA VANN EYES RECORD
Zya Vann is seven points shy of setting a new school record for points in a career. Logan Martin, a 2008 graduate, holds the current record with 1,687 points.

Martin was a three-time NAIA All-American at Southern Nazarene and later an assistant coach for the Crimson Storm. She is now the head coach at Putnam City North.

“I’m happy for (Vann), I’m excited.” Martin said Tuesday after her Lady Panthers won their Class 6A regional opening-round game against Lawton. “I’m a little surprised (the record) has been there that long, but I’m really happy. It’s awesome.”

#	PLAYER	FG%	3FG%	FT%	PPG	MINS	OREB	DREB	REB	AST	TO	A/TO	STL	BLK	CHG
2	Zya Vann	49.4%	41.3%	84.3%	19.8	536	52	49	101	49	31	1.58	75	6	1
3	McKenna Calderon	47.1%	33.3%	75.0%	1.6	100	1	1	2	6	12	0.5	5	1	0
5	Avery Marchino	41.4%	29.4%	70.0%	5.6	477	34	39	73	45	26	1.73	27	1	0
10	Kayten Donley	50.5%	45.7%	79.7%	12.5	507	47	70	117	53	27	1.96	54	17	0
11	Maddison McNutt	37.1%	30.0%	28.6%	2	108	6	7	13	10	14	0.71	12	0	0
15	Skylar Brady	0.0%	0.0%	–	0	6	1	1	2	0	2	0	0	0	0
20	Berkley Johnson	43.3%	13.3%	50.0%	2.4	77	6	8	14	2	11	0.18	2	1	0
21	Lucy McClure	33.3%	0.0%	28.6%	0.5	206	19	16	35	7	12	0.58	3	5	0
22	Ava Dorris	42.9%	0.0%	25.0%	0.4	200	13	16	29	9	17	0.53	14	2	1
23	Ali Linn	44.4%	42.1%	50.0%	3.6	151	8	22	30	10	15	0.67	24	2	0
25	Lauren Koonce	23.5%	14.3%	–	0.7	64	3	4	7	5	6	0.83	5	0	0
32	Keziah Lofton	53.1%	26.1%	71.8%	19	505	42	79	121	57	41	1.39	57	6	1
33	Talia Vann	41.2%	14.7%	71.0%	7.8	398	63	54	117	18	36	0.5	32	14	0
35	Emma Sailer	0.0%	0.0%	–	0	28	2	5	7	1	1	1	1	0	0