Comanche hits its stride in win over Ryan

COMANCHE - The Comanche Indians played well in all phases and it paid off on the scoreboard as the Indians downed Ryan, 75-32, in their opening round game of the 93rd annual Stephens County Tournament on Tuesday.

The Indians were up 16-0 in the first quarter before Ryan got on the scoreboard. It was the start of a 6-0 run for the Cowboys, but it would be the biggest run for them of the night as Comanche answered every Ryan bucket with a bucket of their own from that point on.

“I thought it was a great game,” said Anthony Bowie, Comanche head coach. “I thought our guys did a good job of executing, a good job of playing together and sharing the basketball. The defense got better after the second quarter. We want to hold teams to 15 points. They were at 11 after the first quarter and I think everything after that was pretty solid.”

The coach was also pleased with the way his team made adjustments as the game went along.

“We talked about some things and got them done, it was great,” Bowie said. “It’s also great to be able to host the tournament at home and have fans behind you and to be able to play in front of friends and family. That felt good.”

Colby Shannon knocked down back-to-back three-pointers to open the game and the rest of the team followed right along. Five different players scored during the 16-0 run.

Ryan did outscore Comanche 11-6 in the final four minutes of the quarter, but the Indians still had a 22-11 lead going into the second quarter.

The second quarter featured Corbin Bowen and Briar Blair accounting for all 16 points for the Indians, scoring eight each. Meanwhile, Comanche limited Ryan to three field goals in the quarter and went on to a 38-17 halftime lead.

Comanche would outscore the Cowboys 18-6 in the third quarter, allowing the Indians’ bench players to get some time in on the floor.

It was one of the best games for Blair since his return from injury earlier this month. He had missed the first part of the season. Bowen also had one of his better offensive games, though the coach said he contributes in many other ways not necessarily seen in the stats.

“I don’t know what Corbin finished with yet, but I thought he did a really good job of being aggressive offensively and defensively. That’s the thing I depend on him for. I call him the playmaker, he can play on all three levels. He just does a bunch of things that just go unnoticed. He doesn’t always score a lot of points, but he’s a very key player to our success.”

It’s also good to have Blair back.

“He’s been eager to play. He knows the game and is an intelligent player,” Bowie said. “He’s a real good finisher. We love to get him in the middle of that zone and be able to make decisions. He’s a kid that can start or come off the bench and give you 16 points. He’s just that kind of player and he’s very important to what we do.”

The Indians advance to play rival Marlow in the semifinals for the chance to play in Saturday’s championship game. Bowie expects a hard-fought game.

“They’re a disciplined team and a tough team,” Bowie said. “They know us really well. They feel like the game earlier was an anomaly and that it couldn’t happen again. That’s fine, they’ve won this tournament a few years in a row, so they have a right to say those things. We respect them. We know what they are going to do and they know our players. We’re looking forward to it and we’ll be ready to go Thursday at eight o’clock. All of our guys are going to be ready to play.”

Scoring

Comanche (6-9): Briar Blair, 14; Corbin Bowen, 14; Myles Ellis, 9; Dillon Ellis, 6; Brycen Goedhart, 7; Colby Shannon, 6; Hunter Lassley, 4; Jace Bowen, 3 Hollister Pollock, 2; Cooper Epperson, 2; Joe Zavala, 2

Ryan (9-5): Racen Williams, 9; Xavier Guzman, 8; Noah Torrez, 7; Aaron Ortiz, 4