BETHANY — The much anticipated return of Bethany senior Keziah Lofton went as planned for the eighth-ranked Lady Bronchos and another senior made a return of her own Thursday (Feb. 27) as Bethany beat Eufaula, 59-33, in the the regional opener.

Lofton, who played her first basketball game since June when she suffered a leg injury, played limited minutes as Bethany’s senior class played their last game in front of the home crowd. The Oklahoma signee had 10 points, six rebounds an assist and three steals in 18 minutes on the floor.

“It was really good to be back out there. 
It felt normal again,” Lofton said. “It’s been really hard to watch from the bench, but it’s it’s been good for me too, but it felt really good.”

Bethany coach Eric Sailer said Lofton wanted more minutes on the floor, but he kept her in limited role to keep her healthy while building up the conditioning in a game-speed environment.

“I thought it was a good start,” Sailer said.

As a team, Bethany (19-5) started slow against Eufaula (13-13). The Lady Bronchos led by two points (9-7) after a quarter and 20-15 at halftime. The Lady Ironheads got to the free throw line and Bethany struggled to make shots.

That changed in the third quarter. Senior Kayten Donley scored a bucket and Lofton drilled two free throws to extend the lead to 24-15.

Eufaula junior Elaina Monroe followed with three free throws to make it 24-18.

Enter Lauren Koonce.

The Bethany senior came off the bench and drilled two 3-pointers in a 40-second span and the Lady Bronchos were off to the races. Koonce added two more treys to finish with 12 points.

For Sailer, it reminded him of Koonce’s days in the gym in middle school.

“She was the shooter and I think somewhere along the way, she lost confidence in her basketball abilities.” Sailer said. “I think this year has been really good for her because she’s understood her role a little bit more and that’s shooting and her shot has improved.

“Hitting those four threes was a big jump start before our team and our team needed them,” Sailer said.

“She’s a special kid. It’s just so good for her to be able to have an opportunity to play like that tonight in front of our home crowd for the last time.”

Overshadowed by Lofton’s return and Koonce’s resurgence was Donley’s performance. The Oral Roberts signee scored a game-high 14 points, brought down 10 rebounds and blocked four shots.

Sophomore Ali Linn added 10 points, including five points in the fourth quarter.

Fellow sophomore Camryn Regier followed with eight points, seven rebounds, three assists and four steals.

Bethany held Eufaula to 23 percent shooting from the field and outrebounded them, 30-15.

Late in the game, Sailer was able to substitute for his seniors, bringing them off the floor together for the last time to cheers from Bethany fans.

It was that experience that drove Lofton.

“I wanted to have one last play in front of my hometown one last time and I’m glad we got the dub,” Lofton said.

SENIOR CIRCLE

A day before the game, Sailer had Donley, Koonce, Lofton and Talia Vann sit in the middle of the court, surrounded by their underclassmen teammates.

“Each one of (underclassmen) spoke something about the seniors that were in the middle, and lots of tears were shed,” Sailer said. “Things were said that they never knew, how they might have made them feel or impacted their life.”

Then, the seniors had the opportunity to talk about their teammates and coaches.

Sailer said the seniors’ impact is a big thing.

“That’s powerful when a teenage girl is going through the ups and downs of life and the ups and downs of basketball, when somebody they look up to can speak life into them,” Sailer said.

“(The seniors) are special kids,” Sailer said of the group which was a part of back-to-back 4A state championships. “We’re gonna miss them drastically.”

UP NEXT

The Lady Bronchos (19-5) face ninth-ranked Glenpool Saturday (March 1) for the regional final at Crossings Christian.

The Lady Warriors (18-9) routed Hilldale, 89-26, Thursday.

Sailer said Glenpool sophomore post Tyra Mckinnie “can jump out of the gym.

“She’s a volleyball, basketball stud, and uh she patrols the post very well.”

Sailer said freshman Demoia Gater is a good rebounder and praised Glenpool senior guard Aaliyah Shawnee.

“She’s a super athlete. She’s one of the top players in the state.” Sailer said of Shawnee.

Sailer said Glenpool runs a unique zone defense that make some tweaks necessary to Bethany’s offense.

“They’ll get out and pressure you too, so, taking care of the ball is gonna be huge for us.”

With the win, the Lady Bronchos avoided having to play a consolation bracket game Friday.

Another win Saturday in the regional final would have Bethany playing next Friday in the area tournament instead of Thursday.

“So you start to to take away games and that’s really important, especially with how hard we play. on our bodies to be able to have that extra day of rest.”

	1	2	3	4	F
Eufaula (13-13)	7	8	10	7	33
Bethany (19-5)	9	11	21	18	59