Bethany girls stumble in regional final

WEATHERFORD — After a fourth-quarter comeback gave Bethany the lead, the Bronchos couldn’t put Weatherford away and the Eagles earned a 50-47 overtime victory Saturday (Feb. 28).

The win gave Weatherford the regional title. Despite the loss, Bethany still advances to next week’s area playoffs, but with a tougher path to a state berth.

“We battled tonight and came up short,” Bethany coach Eric Sailer said via text. “We had several opportunities to take the game and win in regulation, we just could not put our stamp on it.”

After trailing by two at halftime (17-15), the Bronchos tied the game at 28-28 after three quarters.

Bethany took the lead with 5:32 left on a 3-pointer from senior Madison Bibbs. Then, junior Ali Linn got her first bucket of the game followed by junior Camryn Regier splitting two free throws and the Bronchos led, 36-30.

Weatherford standout Dasia Givens answered with a trey. Regier followed with a bucket. Givens followed that with a 3-point play to make it 38-36.

Regier finished with 28 points while Givens, the Weatherford senior, had 26.

Bethany struggled with the Eagle press leading to turnovers.

Another Givens trey cut Bethany’s lead to two points, 41-39, with :20 left. On the other end, senior McKenna Calderon’s pass went out of bounds, giving the Eagles a chance to tie the game. Givens’ runner went off the glass and in the bucket with one second left to tie it up at 41-41.

Sailer called timeout and there was a half court shot at the buzzer following that but the game went into overtime.

The Bronchos never led in overtime, though they tied the game a couple of times. Bethany missed four free throws in a row, from Regier and Bibbs, but a putback from Linn tied the game at 43-43 with 2:25 left in the extra period.

Givens and Regier each hit two free throws to tie the game at 45-45.

Weatherford sophomore Mackinley Haggard answered with a bucket and then two free throws to make it 49-45 with 1:05 left.

Regier hit two free throws and had a chance to tie with 26 seconds left but the ball slipped out of bounds as she went to the bucket.

Haggard hit another free throw and a Linn 3-pointer was short just before time expired.

Sailer said his squad made a concerted effort to limit Givens, who was 9-of-22 from the field.

“Our subbing patterns were off tonight because of the defense we had to play,”Sailer said. “Bibbs came in and worked to try limit touches from Givens. Overall our defensive execution was good. We have to continue to correct mistakes.”

Givens was 5-of-5 from the free throw line. The Southwestern commit had nine rebounds and two steals.

The Bronchos struggled from the field (29 percent) and from the free throw line (58 percent).

“You can credit Weatherford and their crowd for that, Sailer said. “They did a good job of getting out to our shooters and contesting our shots.”

The poor free throw shooting has been a trend as of late, leaving points on the floor.

The Bronchos did outrebound Weatherford 30-17 in the loss.

The turnover battle was even (15-15) but the Bronchos turnovers came at inopportune times in the fourth quarter and the overtime period.

“As a unit we need to make sure we are doing a better job of taking care of the ball in pressure situations,” Sailer said.

Regier earned a double-double, pairing her 28 points with 13 rebounds. She also had two steals. Regier was 9-of-26 from the field and 10-of-16 from the free throw line.

Linn added eight points on 2-of-12 shooting. She was 4-of-6 from the line. Linn had four rebounds, two assists and two steals.

Bibbs, whose role was to slow down Givens, scored five points and grabbed seven rebounds.

“I told the girls we have to be ready to bounce back, the playoffs are tough and only the tough survive,” Sailer said. “We have given ourselves an opportunity to stay alive. We must circle the wagons and us these next couple of days to take care of our team!!! We still have a pathway to get to State, we just have to play Thursday at 6 p.m., Friday at 1 p.m., and Saturday at 6 p.m.

“It will be a battle, but believe our team can and will accept the challenge!”

Sailer is hoping for a rematch with the Eagles next Saturday in the area round.