Empire girls stay hot in win over Bray-Doyle

COMANCHE- The weather outside was frigid, but the top-seeded Empire Lady Bulldogs were on fire as they jumped on Bray-Doyle early and then kept up the pace on their way to a 86-9 win in the opening round of the 93rd annual Stephens County Basketball Tournament on Monday.

It is the first time since 1993 that Empire has been the top seed. Empire coach Jaicee Powers said while it is nice, there is work to be done.

“It doesn’t mean a whole lot if we don’t come home with the trophy,” Powers said. “We appreciate the respect the other coaches gave us by giving us the top seed. But, you know, at the end of the day, we got to play who’s in front of us and we got to go make it happen.”

The last team that wasn’t Comanche, Marlow or Velma-Alma to be the top seed was the 2012 Bray-Doyle Lady Donkeys, another team coached by Jaicee Powers.

The Lady Bulldogs (13-2), ranked 14th in Class A, scored the first 27 points of  the game, holding the Lady Donkeys scoreless in the first quarter with their pressure defense leading to several turnovers. The Lady Donkeys fought hard all game, but were outmanned by the Lady Bulldogs.

“(In a game like that) I just look for our girls to be rooting for each other, to stay dialed in, and to run our offense,” Powers said. “I thought we got some good work on our offense and then we like to transition, so I got those sophomores and got them some work on getting up and down the floor really quick, which is something we really tried to do this year.”

Five different players scored for Empire in the opening quarter, including 10 points from senior KK Smith. By the end of the game, nine of the 10 players on the Lady Bulldogs’ roster had scored.

In the second quarter, Smith hit three three-pointers in the span of less than a minute-and-a-half as the Lady Bulldogs continued to roll, eventually taking a 55-5 halftime lead. Smith would hit four threes in the quarter and would go on to finish with a game-high 22 points.

The Empire bench played most of the second half as the Lady Bulldogs continued to pull away. Empire led 76-9 at the end of the third quarter before outscoring Bray-Doyle 10-0 in the final quarter.

It was the ninth win in the last 10 games for the Lady Bulldogs with their only loss during the run being a one-point loss to Class B No. 6 ranked Geronimo at the Black Diamond Classic in Rush Springs.

Empire advances to play host Comanche, the No. 5 seed, who defeated No. 4 seeded Waurika, 50-47 in the final game of the night.

Scoring

Empire (13-2): KK Smith, 22; Dani Kowalik, 12; Kylie Lemons, 10; Kiera Pineda, 10; Shann Walker, 8; Avery Smith, 6; Laynie Johnson, 5; Kenley Lemons, 5; Ryleigh Moiser, 4; Sarah Vanderburg, 4

Bray-Doyle (1-12): Jaymee Abney, 4; Kaydance Y’Barbo, 3; Baylee Menie, 2