OKLAHOMA CITY – Despite spotty shooting at times, top-ranked Bethany got enough offense to rout No. 8 Tuttle, 53-32, Thursday morning in the opening game of the Class 4A girls state tournament at Jim Norick Arena.

The Lady Bronchos (21-4) led from start-to-finish, beating the Lady Tigers (21-8) for the second time this season. Tuttle was the only team to beat Bethany during last year’s title run.

“Anytime you get to the state tournament, a win is what you want. You want to stay alive,” Bethany coach Eric Sailer said. “You want to be ready to play the next day and we checked that box.”

Bethany sprinted out to an big lead early, shooting 55 percent from the field. After a 31-14 lead at halftime. The Lady Bronchos’ struggled shooting-wise, especially in the third quarter.

“Our shots weren’t falling very well this morning, but I felt like we stuck to our guns, we found a ways to score,” Sailer said.

One of those ways Bethany scored was getting into the paint and getting to the free throw line. The Lady Bronchos hit 14-of-16 from the stripe.

“I feel like the girls did a good job of adjusting to their strategy to slow it down and to milk the clock,” Sailer said. “We were able to get out and pressure the ball, get counts which made them have to speed up a little bit.”

Bethany had 16 steals and scored 21 points off of Tuttle turnovers.

Sailer said the key adjustment when shots are falling is simple.

“Make our shots,” Sailer said with a grin. “Of course, we’ll shoot better. I really believe we’ll shoot better.”

Bethany shot 36 percent from the field in the second half, finishing at 45 percent for the game.

Senior Zya Vann, an OU signee scored a game-high 21 points, hitting 7-of-10 from the field and grabbing a team-high six rebounds. Vann also collected six assists and five steals. Zya Vann and her sister Talia dealt with foul trouble, limiting their playing time in the second half.

“(Zya Vann) knows when she needs to go score for us, when we need big, big buckets,” Sailer said after she scored eight points in the fourth quarter to put Tuttle away. “She’s got that ability to kind of float in the air, around the basket, to finish shots off and then get fouled to go to the free throw line.”

Junior Keziah Lofton, another future Sooner, added 10 points on 2-of-9 shooting. Lofton went 6-of-6 from the free throw line.

“She’s a ball dominant point guard,” Sailer said of Lofton. “Being able to see the floor, make passes, being able to get in gaps. And then defensively, her with the combination of Katelyn Donley and Zya – the defensive pressure that they can put on people and get ball touches is pretty phenomenal.”

Junior Talia Vann added nine points on 3-of-5 shooting before fouling out with :56 left in the game.

UP NEXT: The Lady Bronchos have more basketball with their breakfast with another 9 a.m. start Friday (March 8). They meet No. 16 Douglass (20-3) in the semifinals. Douglass beat Inola, 66-40, on Thursday.

“(Douglass) want(s) to get out and pressure you and pressure you and they want to make you play fast,” Sailer said. “They want to make you make bad choices with the basketball.

“We’ll just have to make sure that we’re getting to spots on the floor so that we’re available to the pass so the press and the traps won’t affect us,” Sailer said.

TEAM	1	2	3	4	F
Tuttle	5	9	6	12	32
Bethany	18	13	9	13	53