The Lady Blue Devils and Blue Devils had a busy weekend, as they traveled to Mangum on Thursday night, played Snyder at home on Friday, and traveled to Navajo on Saturday.
The Lady Blue Devils started the three day stretch with a hot start as they jumped out to an early 10-0 lead on the Mangum Lady tigers, and that held steady as they were up 10-2 after one quarter. Unfortunately the hot start did not carry over into the second quarter, as the Lady Blue Devils saw their lead disappear, and they found themselves down two at the half. Coming out of the half the Lady Blue Devils were able to keep pace with the Lady Tigers, and found themselves down only four after the third quarter. Unfortunately the Lady Blue Devils were unable to get any closer than that, as they fell to the Lady Tigers 44-32.
The Lady Blue Devils had another decent start against the Snyder Lady Cyclones, they jumped out to an early lead and were up two after the first quarter. The second quarter was a back and forth battle with multiple ties in the quarter, but the Lady Blue Devils found themselves down two at half. A pretty even start to the third quarter found the Lady Blue Devils able to take a one point lead halfway through the third quarter, but a 17-6 run by the Lady Cyclones found the Lady Blue Devils down 10 headed to the fourth quarter. The Lady Blue Devils were able to keep pace in the fourth quarter, but they were never able to cut into the lead, and fell 41-30.
The Lady Blue Devils had a chance to bounce back Saturday as they traveled to Navajo to take on the Lady Indians. The Lady Blue Devils were able to jump out to a 4-0 lead early in the first, but a run by the Lady Indians found the Lady Blue Devils down 16-10 after the first quarter. In the second quarter the Lady Blue Devils battled with adversity and were able to pull within one, but a late quarter push by the Lady Indians pushed the lead to 9 at half. The Lady Indians came out on fire to start the second half, and the Lady Blue Devils were unable to withstand the push, the lead ballooned to 19 after the third, and ultimately the Lady Blue Devils fell 68-38.
Coach Trent said, “The girls fought hard in 3 games in 3 days, they were able to put together some quality individual quarters, but they need to put together 4 complete quarters. The girls are getting better, they just have to get some shots to fall.”
The Blue Devils started their three day grind with an even quarter against the Tigers. After taking a quick lead in the second quarter the offense let the Blue Devils down, the Tigers went on a 13-4 run to end the quarter, and the Blue Devils were down seven at half. A slow start to the second half was a back breaker to the Blue Devils, as they were only able to score three points in the third, and were down 13 after the third quarter. The fourth quarter was eerily similar to the third quarter, and the Blue Devils were on the short end of the scoreboard falling 43-20.
On Friday the Blue Devils got off to a good start, but so did the Cyclones, as they were able to put up 18 points in the quarter to the Blue Devils 11. The Blue Devils were able to flip the script in the second quarter, out scoring the Cyclones 16-9 in the quarter, and going to half all tied up. Coming out of the half both defenses clamped down, and were able to make it a low scoring quarter, with the Blue Devils finding themselves down three headed to the fourth. The Blue Devils were able to cut it to one point late in the fourth, but late free throws by the Cyclones made it a seven point loss for the Blue Devils 53-46.
On the back-end of the three day stretch the Blue Devils were able to keep pace with the Indians in the first quarter, and it was all knotted up after the first quarter. Both teams were able to score at will in the second quarter as the Blue Devils scored 16 to the Indians 19, putting the half time score at 29-26. The Indians started the third quarter on a 6-0 run, but the Blue Devils were able to withstand the punch, and went on a 14-4 run to end the third quarter putting the Blue Devils up one headed to the fourth quarter. The fourth quarter was a battle as the Indians were able to draw even halfway through the fourth quarter, but the Blue Devils kept fighting, and a couple of late free throws gave the Blue Devils their second win of the season coming out on top 51-45.
Coach Blankenship said,”The seniors have continued to grow and show great leadership. The team culture is improving, and the boys are beginning to see the benefits of playing for one another and serving one another.”
The Lady Blue Devils and Blue Devils will host the Hollis Tigers on Tuesday Feb 7, 2023 games will tip off at 6:30pm. District playoffs for the Lady Blue Devils and Blue Devils will be played Friday February 10, 2023 at Arapaho-Butler, and those games will also tip off at 6:30pm.