Girls' big lead turns into struggle

The Lady Cougars hung on for a 64-61 win over the Lady Rockets of Turrell last Thursday night in Rector.

The Lady Cougars looked to be in command early, rattling off 14 unanswered to close out the first quarter with a strong 20-6 lead. Chelsea Drope spurred the charge in the frame, connecting on back-to-back-to-back three-pointers.

Drope notched another two threes in the second quarter, but Turrell's Erica Chance warmed up from the field, connecting on short jumpers and going to the basket, as the visitors clawed back to within single digits, 32-25. The Rector lead continued to dwindle in the third, with the hosts holding on to a 46-43 advantage going into the final frame.

The Lady Cougars and Lady Rockets battled through a heated fourth quarter as both teams tried to make a final push for the win. In the end, it came down to free throws for Rector, an area at which they have struggled this season. The Lady Cougars made two of six from the line in the game's final 18 seconds, getting just enough to stay ahead.

Drope started the game strong, burying all five of her three-pointers in the first half and finishing with 24 points in the win. Allison Duncan and Rhoda Classen also reached double digits in the scoring column, netting 17 and 12, respectively. Rebecca Dodd and Stephanie DeMent finished with seven and four points, respectively, to round out the Rector scoring.

Chance was the lone Lady Rocket to reach double figures, scoring 27 in defeat.

After building such a big lead, the Lady Cougars found themselves in a struggle to come away victorious.

"We gutted it out and got it done," Lady Cougar coach Mark Manchester said. "Our free throw shooting is not good, but we got just enough in to get the win. I think, in the fourth quarter, we played like we were behind at times instead of ahead. There were some times there where I felt like we rushed our shots when we didn't have to. I thought we played pretty hard overall."

Turrell does not have a junior girls team, so the Junior Lady Cougars did not take the court on the night.

Loss to EPC

The Lady Cougars dropped a 67-64 heartbreaker to EPC Tuesday night in Rector.

Three Lady Cougars reached double figures in scoring. Drope led the way, scoring 24. Classen and Duncan finished with 16 and 14, respectively. Also scoring were Jessie Scott 4, DeMent 3 and Dodd 3.

Juniors downed

The Junior Lady Cougars fell short in their meeting with EPC, 42-38. The game was back-and-forth all night, with Rector leading 9-4 after the first, trailing 21-18 at intermission and back up 27-25 going into the fourth.

Vanessa Jones and Kaitlyn Essman carried much of the scoring burden for the Junior Lady Cougars with 18 and 12 points, respectively. Also scoring were Kelly Fowler 2, Courtney Shepard 2, Kristin Smart 2 and Johnna Lopez 2.