CHS splits home openers with Chicks

The Comanche Indians gave new head coach Anthony Bowie a win in his home debut when two attempted tip-ins at the buzzer by Chickasha failed to find the mark securing a 51-50 victory last Friday night.

The game featured 10 lead changes and four ties. The Indians led most of the way through the middle quarters, but thanks to sharp second half three-point shooting, the Chicks fought their way back and forced the game down to the wire.

During their second half run, Chickasha was 6-for-6 behind the arc.

“That’s basketball,” Bowie said after the win. “It’s a game of runs. They started out jumping on top of us early. There was a lot of emotion for us and we finally settled down a bit. The guys were playing in front of their home fans and were excited. We were able to come back and get the lead to six points at the half.”

The coach knew, though, not to count out the Chicks. 

“I told the guys that (Chickasha) is relentless,” Bowie said. “We knew from film that they were a physical team and could shoot the ball really well. I told the guys don’t pay any attention to them losing 61-35.”

It was a fitting end to his first home game as coach.

“(The atmosphere) was electric,” Bowie said. “The guys had a lot of energy and I was just trying to cool them down, but I get it. I understand that. They got the whole community behind them. The community wants to see them do good things. The players want to impress me, but I’m trying to impress the players and I’ve told them that multiple times. It was a fun atmosphere.”

Chickasha (0-2) led 14-13 at the end of the first quarter with Myles Ellis scoring eight of his game-high 20 points in the quarter to keep the Indians close.

Comanche (2-0) went on to outscore the visitors 18-11 in the second quarter to take a 31-25 halftime lead.

The Indians opened the third by scoring the first six points of the quarter, but the Chicks then started to get hot from the three-point line and got the lead back down to six points heading into the final quarter.

Chickasha continued its momentum into the fourth quarter, going on a 9-2 run to take the lead for the first time since early in the second quarter.

The game went back-and-forth the remainder of the contest. 

With Chickasha holding a 50-48 lead, Myles Ellis tied the game with a short jumper with just over a minute to go. With 40.1 seconds left, Hunter Lassley sank one of two free throws to give the Indians the lead for good.

Both teams had chances to score down the stretch and the Chicks had the last possession, but could not get the ball to fall at the end of the game.

Briar Blair was second on Comanche with eight points. Dillon Ellis was third with six points. Colby Shannon and Corbin Bowen had five points each, followed by Lassley with four.

Comanche also outshot Chickasha at the foul line, going 6-for-10 (60 percent), while the Chicks were 9-of-18 (50 percent).

 
Lady Chicks 42

Lady Indians 37

A late surge by Comanche came up short as Comanche fell to Chickasha.

The Lady Indians never led in the game. There was one tie in the second quarter.

It was a slow start for both teams offensively with the Lady Chicks taking an 8-4 lead at the end of the first quarter.

Four straight points by Gracee Miller to open the second tied the game but a three-pointer by Chickasha broke the tie and the Lady Indians would never catch up again.

Chickasha went on to take a 15-11 halftime lead.

In the third quarter, Chickasha’s Ginn, who had not scored in the first half, scored the first five points in the third quarter as she led her team to a 29-20 advantage heading into the final quarter.

Led by Miller, Comanche began its comeback bid in the fourth. Miller had been the recipient of a lot of attention by Chickasha had only scored eight points total in the first three quarters. She would go on to more than double that in the fourth quarter, scoring 10 of her team’s 17 points. The Lady Chicks had led by as many as 13 points with 5:30 to go when Comanche began to build up steam.

They made it a one possession game with six seconds left when Miller converted a three-point play to make the score 40-37. Chickasha, though, would sink both free throws with just a few ticks on the clock left to secure the win.

One major difference in the game was Chickasha knocked down seven three-pointers compared to none for Comanche.

Miller finished with 18 points to lead Comanche. Kynli Morris and Breelie Garlinger were next with five points each. Kylie Roden had four points with Karsynn Bowles with three and Jentry Whaley with two.

Both Comanche teams played Newcastle on Tuesday and will go to Latta this weekend for a tournament.