Lady Devils Fall to Luther, Mangum At Tri-County Tourney

The Cordell Lady Blue Devils faced a daunting task at the Great Plains National Bank Tri-County Basketball Tournament last weekend. The girls drew powerhouse Luther in the first round and regional rival Mangum in the second as they went two-and-out in the tourney.

The girls played a very strong game against a tough Luther squad to open the tournament. Despite one of the Lady Devils’ best offensive games of the season, they just couldn’t power past the Lady Lions and fell 67-52.

“We played 18th ranked Luther in the first round of the tournament,” said head coach Jana Rogers. “We actually played well on both ends. We scored double digits in all four quarters, which has been tough for us this season. We also played well with them until the beginning of the fourth quarter. They hit three consecutive three pointers that really put a gap between us. But I was proud of how we handled the press.”

The loss pushed the Lady Devils into the consolation bracket where they faced the Lady Tigers of Mangum. The Mangum girls ran up a 20-5 lead in the first quarter and really never looked back. Despite strong effort from the Lady Devils in the second half, they couldn’t overcome the early lead and were elliminated from the tournament with a 56- 38 loss.

“The second game wasn’t as good when we played Mangum,” Rogers said. “I feel they aren’t as good as Luther, but we just had a hard time with their pressure. But they battled and hopefully we are continuing to get better so maybe we can surprise someone in the playoffs. I still think we will click and find a way before the season ends.”

The Lady Blue Devils had a rematch with Mangum last night and then travel to Burns Flat Friday to face the Lady Eagles of Burns Flat-Dill City. Tipoff is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. Friday, Jan. 31. Look for full coverage in next week’s Beacon.