The Hobart Bearcats played the last game in their old gym against Cordell, so it seems only fitting that the Lady Blue Devils come to Hobart to help the Bearcats open the new one. Despite the rivalry between the two teams and the communities that support them, the Hobart community decided to open Friday’s games with a moment to honor the memory of Creed Bouse, the Cordell student tragically killed in a car accident earlier in the week.
The rivalry, however, resumed as soon as the jump ball was thrown.
The Lady Devils’ energy was high right from the start, despite the stinginess of the Hobart hoops. The teams battled back and forth, with each team having decent scoring opportunities, but the shots just weren’t falling early. Trailing 10-9 with the clock winding down on the first quarter, Cordell’s Andrea Palmer drove the lane hard, scoring the goahead basket, putting the Lady Devils up 11-10 at the break.
The second quarter carried a similar tone, with high energy and very physical play. Both teams found themselves in foul trouble early in the second quarter, and both were in the penalty before two minutes had elapsed in the period. The Lady Devils maintained their aggressive play throughout the half, despite losing Andrea Palmer to the bench after her third personal foul with five minutes left to play. Cordell’s girls held strong, though, and took a 20-18 lead into the locker room at the half.
Defense dominated the third quarter, despite the Lady Devils having three starters on the verge of serious foul trouble. Bailey Troub, Kamdyn Davis, and Andrea Palmer were all carrying three fouls early in the second half, but the girls fought on. Davis picked up her fourth personal with 2:23 left in the quarter, followed by Troub as the period was drawing to a close. The Lady Devils, however, held the Lady Bearcats to just two field goals in the quarter and gave up just one field goal as the quarter drew to a close.
As the final period opened, Hobart closed the lead to within two, but the Lady Devils quickly responded. Palmer hit a free-throw line jumper to push the lead back to four, at 28-24. Cordell’s girls continued their aggressive offensive play, finding their way to the free throw line several times as the game wound down. In the end, those free throws made the difference as Cordell’s girls came out on top, 34-29.
“I think we are gaining confidence every game,” said head coach Jana Rogers. “We seem to have different people step up for us each night as well. We did a good job of keeping our composure at the end of the game. We are still learning, but it’s good to get some rewards along the way. We took care of the ball much better and Andrea Palmer had a break-out game for us. She led us with her career high of 16!”
Andrea Palmer led all scorers with 16 in the game, Renee Javorky, Bailey Troub, and Evan Anderson each added six.
The Lady Devils hosted Hinton Tuesday evening and travel to Burns Flat for tournament play Thursday at 1:30 p.m.