BETHANY — Bethany pushed 4A top-ranked Weatherford to overtime Tuesday (Feb. 11) before losing, 61-49, in a Western Athletic Conference contest.

“I’m not gonna sit here and be ‘moral victory,’ ” Bethany coach Brett Cannon said. “We had it, we were right there, we had a shot to win the game at the end of it.”

The 12th-ranked Bronchos (13-7, 8-4) stayed within striking distance after the Eagles got a first quarter lead and held it throughout the game.

Bethany pulled within two points (48-46) with :29 on a corner 3-pointer by senior Wyatt Geissler. After Geissler got a steal, fellow senior Aiden Todd split two free throws to make it 48-47 with :19 left in the game.

Weatherford senior Ethan Sage did the same on the other end with :15 and the Eagles led, 49-47.

Todd drove the length of the floor and laid it in to tie the game at 49-49 with eight seconds left.

Weatherford had a chance to win it in the regulation, but a long trey by senior CJ Nickson and another 3-pointer by Ethan Sage were off both off the mark.

The Eagles controlled the tip in the extra period and shut out the Bronchos.

The Bronchos struggled find open shots and didn’t get any second chances with rebounds.

Weatherford senior Tate Sage scored six points in the 12-0 run. The last of the points was an uncontested dunk with eight second left with the outcome decided.

The dunk drew the ire or seniors Lukas Wooldridge and Garrett Johnson. This led to some pushing and shoving which was quickly broken up by coaches from both sides.

Cannon saw a difference in his team in the final quarter, where they outscored Weatherford, 10-3.

“We just kept telling them take great shots. We knew against man defense we could get some stuff happening. We knew they were gonna have to go zone,” Cannon said. “Against the zone, we just had to get off our heels. When we attacked it and got paint-touch kickouts, we got great shots. But, when we were on our heels, we slowed up and we we didn’t get great looks.”

“We haven’t played in that type of game, this type of pressure against that type of team, so it it was good for us,” Cannon said.

Despite following behind to a hot-shooting Weatherford team, Cannon saw a silver-lining.

“The majority of it was layups. We get beat back door, give up offensive rebounds, little things, little things that can be fixed,” Cannon said. “So that gives that gives me a lot of hope, that we can we can fix those things.”

Todd led the Bronchos with 13 points. Wooldridge added 10 points (all in the first half) and Geissler also scored 10 points, with three treys.

Junior Denton Jaggers followed with five points, including a sequence with 3:45 in the fourth quarter where Jaggers got two contested putbacks on his missed shots. He finally got a bucket to pull Bethany within three points, 46-43.

Nickson scored a game high 23 points. The Oklahoma football and basketball signee hit 7-of-8 from the free throw line in the third quarter and 3-of-4 from the line in overtime.

With the win, Weatherford extended its winning streak to 12 games. The Eagles’ lone loss this season was to 6A Owasso Dec. 27.

UP NEXT

The Bronchos travel to Ardmore (10-8) Friday (Feb. 14) at 7:30 p.m.

The Tigers beat 2A second-ranked Riverside, 67-64, Tuesday.

“I know (Ardmore is) gonna be quick five guards, if there are anything like they were last year,” Cannon said. “They’re gonna press us. They’re gonna fly around.”

Cannon noted his team has struggled in road trips. Players sit on a bus for two hours and then sit around the gym for another two hours while junior varsity games are played.

“It’s just something we have to adjust to,” Cannon said. “Something we got we started like last last road trip we played, we forced them to bring blankets and pillows so they can lay down.”

Photographs courtesy of Kristie Escoe of Life in Action Photography.

	1	2	3	4	OT	F
Weatherford (22-1, 10-0)	18	13	15	3	12	61
Bethany (13-7, 8-4)	13	13	13	10	0	49