Blue Devils Win Consolation Championship At Tourney

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  • Blue Devils Win Consolation Championship At Tourney
    Blue Devils Win Consolation Championship At Tourney
  • Blue Devils Win Consolation Championship At Tourney
    Blue Devils Win Consolation Championship At Tourney
  • Blue Devils Win Consolation Championship At Tourney
    Blue Devils Win Consolation Championship At Tourney
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The Cordell Blue Devils started their week of competition Tuesday on the road against the Warriors of Okarche and then finished up by claiming the consolation championship at the Western Equipment Classic in Arapaho on Saturday.

The Blue Devils started off strong against Okarche, pouring in 20 points in the first quarter with three-pointers from Raydon Kuehne, Brady Reimer, and Gaige Keister. Reimer, Keister, and Bode Gallagher all added twopoint field goals as well.

Despite the strong offensive showing, Okarche managed to run with Cordell’s boys, putting in 17 points of their own to keep in the game. The second quarter featured more defense from both teams, and the Blue Devils went into the locker room clinging to the same three point lead they had at the end of the first quarter.

Okarche came back in the second half of the game, outscoring the Blue Devils by 10 in the third quarter to claim a seven point lead. They stretched that lead by another four points in the fourth and claimed the 62-51 victory.

“We played hard, I thought, but are still turning the ball over way too much,” said Cordell head coach Brandon Gallagher. “We had three guys in double figures, but really struggled to score to close out the game. We just have to keep working.”

Thursday evening the Blue Devils opened their play in the Western Equipment Classic against the host team, the Arapaho-Butler Indians. The Blue Devils struggled in the tournament opener, scoring just four points in the first quarter to the Indians’ 11. Cordell bounced back in the second, closing the lead to just five as they headed into the locker room.

The Indians came out strong in the second half, though, and kept the Blue Devils on their heels defensively, while forcing them to rush their offense in hopes of keeping up. In the end, Arapaho-Butler claimed the 45-28 victory and pushed Cordell into the consolation bracket.

“We just couldn’t get anything going offensively,” Gallagher said. “We hung around for a long time but had to start chasing them and gave up some easy buckets.”

The second game of the tournament pitted the Blue Devils against the Bearcats of Erick. Cordell’s boys jumped out to an early lead in the first quarter, outpacing the Bearcats 13-10. The Blue Devils extended that lead with a dominating second quarter, scoring 11 while allowing just three to take a 24-13 lead into the locker room at the half. Cordell’s domination continued into the third quarter, where they outscored Erick by 15 to push their lead to 26 heading into the final period. The Bearcats made a late rally, scoring 17 in the fourth, but it wasn’t enough to overcome Cordell’s lead. The Blue Devils earned their way into the consolation championship with their 53-34 victory.

“I thought we did a really good job defensively,” Gallagher said. “We were able to get out and contest a lot of shots and make it difficult on them moving the ball. We were able to get some easy buckets inside on offense and had very good ball movement. It was a nice win over a ranked team.”

The consolation championship was a rematch of an early season game against the Panthers of Lookeba-Sickles, who had beaten the Blue Devils by 25 in their previous meeting. History was not to be repeated in this game, however. The Blue Devils jumped out to an early 12 point lead and never let up. In the end, Cordell notched an 18 point win against the Panthers, 69-51, and claimed the consolation championship.

“This was a great win for us,” Gallagher noted. “They had beaten us by 25 earlier in the year. We shot the ball very well this game and didn’t have a lot of turnovers. I thought we were very active out of our zone getting out on shooters. It was a good last two days for us.”