Midwest City and Del City renewed their rivalry Saturday afternoon as Del City hosted this season’s second edition of the crosstown rivalry. The Del City girls made all the big plays in the fourth quarter to come away with a win, and the Midwest City boys got back to their winning ways with a dominating performance.
Just over one month ago, Del City girls coach Karri Sears saw her team fade in the fourth quarter in a loss to Midwest City and said they were determined not to suffer the same fate again. “We just really wanted to keep our composure,” Sears said.
The Lady Eagles did that and more. Del City entered the final period leading 43-41, then used a series of big plays from Dionna Collins to pull away from the Lady Bombers, outscoring them 17-8 over the final eight minutes.
After a basket from Midwest City’s Jasauen Beard tied the game at 43 with 5:49 to play, Collins grabbed the inbounds pass and dribbled the length of the court before dishing to Shaletha Clark, who converted a tough shot for a two-point Del City lead. On the next Lady Eagle’s possession, Collins took the ball to the basket herself, dropping in a contested layup and drawing the foul. She hit the free throw to give Del City a 48-43 lead and all the momentum.
“Oh yeah,” said a smiling Sears, when asked if she felt that those two plays from Collins had put her team firmly in control.
“We’re peaking at the right time,” she added. The Lady Eagles play one more game Monday, Feb. 18, before embarking on what they hope will be a run to the state tournament.
“It’s (the win over MWC) going to propel us into the playoffs,” Sears said.
Collins scored 17 for Del City. Alaisha Castleberry led the Lady Eagles with 19. Chinna Fair scored 19 for the Midwest City and Beard added 14.
Midwest City coach Art Bode said his team was undone by a recurring problem. “We haven’t played 32 minutes all year,” he said, explaining that his team played decently for three quarters, but failed to maintain their focus in the final period. “If you don’t play for 32 minutes, you’re going to get beat.”
The game concluded the regular season for the Lady Bombers. They begin postseason play Feb. 21.
Midwest City boys roll
Coming off their first loss of the year, the Bombers were determined to put another tally in the win column, jumping all over a depleted Del City squad from the start and coming out with a 75-40 victory.
Daryck Jones scored 21, Kesean Brown had 12 and Mikey Smith added nine for the Bombers.
“We got a chance to play everybody and get a little bit of that swagger back so hopefully we did that,” said coach Dewayne Bradley.
The Bombers take to the court again Feb. 22 for their first game on the road to state.
Del City played the game without key players Brett Cannon, who will miss the rest of the season after breaking his wrist Feb. 5, Corey Lawrence, who sat out the contest with a hip pointer and Stephen Edwards, who was dismissed from the team last week.
The Eagles play their final regular-season game Monday, Feb. 18 before beginning regional play Feb. 22.
