BETHANY — A fourth quarter comeback from Bethany fell short Tuesday (Jan. 21) in a 53-49 loss to Newcastle in a Western Athletic Conference contest.

Bethany coach Brett Cannon lamented his team’s decision making as Newcastle took control of the game midway through the first quarter. In that opening quarter, the Bronchos were 9-of-10 from the paint but turned the ball over seven times.

“We just shoot ourselves in the foot,” Cannon said, “We talked about making the simple play and we just try to do too much complex stuff. Like this guy right next to you, pass to the guy right next to you.”

After the Racers (6-7) built a 31-24 lead at halftime, Bethany (7-5) got with a point in the third quarter (33-32) with a bucket from senior Aiden Todd and 3-pointers from seniors Wyatt Geissler and Lukas Wooldridge.

Each time Bethany inched close, Newcastle had an answer, thanks in part to Zach Cragg. The senior had seven points in the third quarter and finished with a game-high 24 points.

The Racers were back up by six points by the end of the quarter, 38-32.

Enter Braxton Mullins.

The senior scored Bethany’s first six points in a 6-2 run and later drained a 3-pointer with 3:26 left to make it 43-41.

“Braxton played great. He ignited us, He set the tone. He did great stuff offensively defensively and he hasn’t been playing as much this year, so it’s always nice when you can call on a guy on the bench and bring a spark,” Cannon said of Mullins, who finished with nine points.

The Bronchos would cut the deficit to two points one more time, but missed free throws and opportunities hurt the cause.

One opportunity came after Newcastle turned the ball over after taking too much time to inbound the basketball with :48 left. The Bronchos immediately turned the ball over.

Geissler gave the Bronchos one more shot with a trey with :22 left to make it 50-49.

Bethany was forced to foul the Racers and Newcastle hit 3-of-4 from the line to seal the win.

A visibly frustrated Cannon lamented those missed opportunities.

“You don’t have to make any spectacular play. We talk about the the importance of every possession, and yet, we we don’t go out and execute that.

“We talk about there there’s too many my-bads. At some point, that’s gotta end. They’ve all been in the program for three years now. They’ve all played for three years. 
At this point in the season, there are no more my-bads.”

Geissler led Bethany with 12 points. Todd and Wooldridge each scored 10 points. Todd also dished out eights assists.

UP NEXT

The Bronchos will play in the Sweet Pea Invitational at Newcastle Thursday through Saturday (Jan. 23-25).

Bethany meets 6A Lawton Eisenhower (2-9, 1-6) Thursday at 11:30 a.m.

Photographs courtesy of Kristie Escoe of Life in Action Photography.

	1	2	3	4	F
Newcastle (6-7, 5-1)	18	13	7	15	53
Bethany (7-5, 4-1)	13	11	8	17	49