BETHANY — Bethany pulled away from a dangerous Community Christian squad in the second quarter and junior Camryn Regier scored 25 points in a 55-30 win Tuesday (Feb. 24).

The win moved Bethany to the Class 4A Area I Regional C Championship game Saturday (Feb. 28) at Weatherford. The win also guaranteed the Bronchos a spot in next weekend’s Area I playoffs.

“Really proud of our effort and the girls,” Bethany coach Eric Sailer said. “When when they had an opportunity to go out and perform, I thought they did really well. That was a great team victory for us.”

It was a tight opening quarter as the Royals made things difficult inside and got their hands on a lot of Bethany passes.

Midway through the first quarter, junior Ali Linn sank two free throws to give the Bronchos a lead they would never relinquish. Sophomore Kamryn Donley came off the bench and sank a 3-pointer to extend the lead but CCS hung around and trailed by just four points, 15-11, at the end of the quarter.

Bethany held Community Christian to single-digit scoring in the final three quarters and held the Royals without an offensive rebound.

In the second quarter, freshman Morgan McNutt hit a trey to highlight the Bronchos widening of the lead to double digits..

Turnovers stung Bethany in the third quarter but with Regier’s consistent scoring and winning the rebounding battle, the Bronchos were too much for CCS.

“That’s kind of a bad scenario for us,” Sailer said of the turnovers. “We’ve got to have ball security and we’ve been doing a better job of that.”

Sailer pointed out the Royals had sixth-ranked Kingfisher down by five points in the fourth quarter and lost by single digits to 3A seventh-ranked Millwood.

“CCS presents a lot of problems. Their defense is good. 
They have good length, they have good size,” Sailer said. “They were able to turn us over a little bit. But, one thing I think that we do really well is boxing out.”

Linn, fellow junior Emma Sailer and Donley picked up big rebound and Bethany dominated the boards, 36-11.

While it was struggle inside at times for Regier, the points piled up. She started getting to the free throw line, finishing 9-of-12 from the stripe.

Eric Sailer had a humorous comparison about Regier drawing a crowd of defenders.

“It’s like a girl going to the prom and when you wake up in the morning and you got that pimple on your forehead, everybody’s seeing it,” Sailer said. “Everybody knows where Cam is and they’re gonna try to limit her touches and they’re gonna collapse two or three players.

“I thought she did a good job of moving the ball. But then also being able to be aggressive in attacking and getting found more frequently.”

Regier added 12 rebounds for a double-double. She had four assists and two steals.

Senior Maddison McNutt added seven points, going 4-for-4 from the line. Maddison McNutt had four rebounds, two assists and two steals.

Donley finished with six points and two assists. Linn also had six points, 11 rebounds, two assists and two steals.

The rebounding edge proved important as Bethany shot a 29 percent from the field from the field. The Bronchos also lost the turnover battle to CCS, 17-14.

The Royals shot 27 percent but didn’t snag an offensive board which limited their chances.

UP NEXT

Bethany (22-3) meets ninth-ranked Weatherford (19-8) on the road Saturday (Feb. 28) at 6 p.m. for the regional championship The Eagles beat Woodward in overtime, 55-51, Tuesday.

Both teams will advance to the area round of the playoffs regardless of the outcome.

The eighth-ranked Bronchos got past Weatherford, 50-46, on the road Feb. 10 in a Western Athletic Conference contest.

Sailer knew he might see the Eagles again in the playoffs.

Ball security was an issue for Bethany in the close win. Regier and Linn hit free throws down the stretch for the win.

Bethany will have to contend with senior Dasia Givens, a Southwestern signee. Givens dropped 25 points on Clinton to help secure the district title.

“They’ve got shooters,” Sailer said. “(Givens is) a really good player. Lots of talent, very strong. can get to the rim, can shoot the three. 


“Our hands are gonna be full again.”

	1	2	3	4	F
Community Christian (17-9)	11	6	8	5	30
Bethany (22-3)	15	16	9	15	55