PURCELL — Trailing by as many as 10 points against the OKC Knights, Bethany mounted a comeback and pulled out a 54-53 win Thursday (Jan. 22).

The win propelled the Bronchos to Friday’s championship game of the Heart of Oklahoma Basketball Tournament.

“This is such a resilient group,” Bethany coach Josh Holliday said via text. “They just do not have any quit in them.”

The Knights had a 45-35 lead entering the fourth quarter. Several Bronchos made contributions in a 19-8 fourth quarter run.

Holliday praised junior Conor Sydnes for ‘huge plays’ down the stretch. Senior Jagger Weaver had a big shot in the fourth quarter and fellow senior Seth Greiner scored his only points of the game in crunch time – a big 3-pointer.

Trailing 53-52 with 14 seconds left, Greiner knocked the ball loose from a Knight player. It ended up in the hands of sophomore Rhett Brobston. After a timeout, the inbounds pass was a lob to sophomore Breck Brady. He put up a shot but was fouled with 5.7 seconds remaining. Brady sank both free throws for a 54-33 lead. The Knights had a shot at the buzzer but it was short, giving Bethany the win.

“They lean on each other when the going gets tough and just fight until the clock says zero,” Holliday said. “That was all them and pure will. Blessed to be around a group of young men like that.”

Brady finished with 20 points and five rebounds. He was 4-of-6 from the field. Weaver added 10 points, including five points in the fourth quarter. He had four boards, an assist and a steal.

Brobston scored eight points, with two 3-pointers. He scored five of those points in the fourth quarter rally.

Senior Denton Jaggers scored seven points and had seven rebounds in the win.

UP NEXT

Bethany (14-4) faces 3A Dickson Friday (Jan. 23) at 10 a.m. The game was rescheduled due to forecasted heavy snow and ice coming later Friday to the state.

The Comets beat 4A Byng 61-45 on Thursday.

	1	2	3	4	F
OKC Knights (14-8)	16	13	16	8	53
Bethany (14-4)	9	14	12	19	54