PURCELL — Bethany coach Eric Sailer would rather not play a tournament championship game when his players are usually in first hour at school.

But, the early morning title game produced the Bronchos’ fourth straight Heart of Oklahoma Basketball Tournament Championship after a 57-48 win over Elgin.

The game was moved to early Friday (Jan. 23) to avoid forecasted snow and ice across the state.

“I thought the girls responded well to adversity,” Sailer said via text. “While other tournaments canceled and teams did not have to play, we played and played a good team!!!”

The Bronchos sprinted out to a 31-14 lead at halftime thanks to juniors Ali Linn and Camryn Regier.

Linn scored 11 of her 17 points in the first half. She was 6-of-10 from the field. Linn had seven rebounds, three assists and four steals.

“Ali Linn played her best game of the year,” Sailer said.

Regier added 14 points, 10 rebounds, two assists and a steal.

In the second half, the Bronchos had to survive Elgin junior Kynli Garrett and senior Kelby Carter.

Garrett, who’s committed to play softball at Oklahoma State, scored all of her 21 points in the second half. She had four rebounds and six steals.

Carter, a Cowley County commit for softball, added 15 points, 16 rebounds and three steals.

Sailer highlighted Regier, and seniors Reese Harris and Maddison McNutt for impacting the game.

McNutt scored 12 points on four 3-pointers. She was 3-of-5 from the field. McNutt had three assists, three rebounds and a steal.

Harris added 12 points on 5-of-8 shooting. She had three assists, three rebounds and two steals.

“We had some other girls really step up today,” Sailer said. “McKenna Calderon played well defensively to help our team win the championship.”

Bethany shot 43 percent from the field as a team compared to 22 percent for the Owls. The Bronchos did turn the ball over 22 times while Elgin had 16 turnovers.

“This was a great weekend for our team. Learning as we get better!!!” Sailer said, “Hopefully we can stay hungry and continue to limit our mistakes as we move forward! So proud to be their Coach!”

UP NEXT

Bethany (15-2) hosts Clinton Tuesday (Jan. 27) at 6:30 p.m. in a Western Athletic Confernece matchup.

The Lady Reds are 2-15 overall and 0-7 in conference play. They fell to Class B Varnum 51-32 Thursday at the Cashion County Line Tournament.

Photographs courtesy of Kristie Escoe of Life in Action Photography.

	1	2	3	4	F
Elgin (13-5)	10	4	17	17	48
Bethany (15-2)	16	15	12	14	57