The Midwest City Lady Bombers (3-2) gutted out a first night win against Guthrie and followed with a commanding victory over Northwest Classen, but they ultimately took second place in the holiday invitational with a close defeat against Broken Arrow.
The Lady Bombers started off hot against Guthrie hitting their first three field goals. However, they couldn’t stem their turnover problems or stop Guthrie’s sensational sophomore guard Micayla Haynes through the first half of action.
Haynes had 21 of Guthrie’s 24 first half points as the Lady Bombers held a 3 point lead at intermission.
Midwest City junior forward Chelsey Olds with 8 points and 3 rebounds and sophomore guard Asia Davis with 7 points and 2 rebounds led the way for the Lady Bombers.
Senior Bomber forward and lead scorer Jasauen Beard was having a rough night to that point even being taken out in third quarter to refocus her mindset. Still, the Bombers maintained a 6 point edge after three quarters with Davis adding 5 more points.
“There are a couple of girls we sat out a couple different times for effort reasons and trying to focus them up a little bit,” said Midwest City Head Coach Art Bode. “It seemed to work. We have to learn to play our level of basketball every night.”
Finally, the Bombers pulled ahead for good late in the fourth quarter with Beard scoring 7 of her teams last 10 points to seal a 57-50 win. Haynes, who finished with 27 points, was corralled for the most part in the second half scoring 6 points after Coach Bode put a longer defender on her. Davis finished her night with 16 points and 4 rebounds. Beard added 17 points and 5 rebounds with 12 points coming in the fourth quarter.
Day two saw the Lady Bombers dismantle the Northwest Classen Lady Knights.
Beard started where she left off scoring 10 first half points to get the Lady Bombers off to a 30-11 first half lead. The Lady Bombers’ defense was in full effect holding the Lady Knights under double digit scoring and coming up with 13 steals in each of the four quarters on their way to a 60-23 win.
Beard led the way with 19 points. Midwest City sophomore forward Ireon Smith and Olds added 8 points each in the win.
The victory set up a final match to take the whole tournament with the Broken Arrow Lady Tigers.
Midwest City continued to play good solid team ball when Beard had to hit the bench with early foul trouble. Six different Lady Bombers scored to keep Broken Arrow from pulling away.
“We’re a team when one person goes down the next person has to step up and fill that void,” said Coach Bode of the early foul trouble.
When Beard returned down 19-15, Midwest City went on a run to take a 6 point lead with her, Davis, and sophomore forward Chianna Fair chipping in 5 points each.
It was a back and forth affair until the fourth quarter when Broken Arrow switched to zone. MWC went 0-3 in turnovers on the next 3 possessions and was never able to find the rhythm again offensively.
“When they switched to that zone, you have to be able to knock down some shots,” said Bode. “That’s what got us a little bit. We hit three 3’s in the first half and none in the second.”
Broken Arrow finished off Midwest City 60-54 to take the Mid-Del Holiday Invitational. Broken Arrow senior guard Toree Thompson, who was named the tournament’s Most Valuable Player, had 30 points in the win.
Beard and Smith each earned All-Tournament selections for their work throughout the weekend but it was a total team effort that helped Midwest City take second.
“They’re go-to-girls,” said Bode. “They’re stepping up and playing strong, and they’re starting to understand their role on the team a little bit better.” MWC plays Del City at home, Jan. 4.
