JASON EPP
• Leader & Times
TURPIN, Okla.— The Turpin Lady Cardinals built a 17-point lead early in the second half and looked poised to cruise to an easy win and district championship. But a massive comeback by the Texhoma Lady Red Devils was only staved off by late free throws as Turpin held on to claim the title, 37-35.
“In the second half, we settled for a lot of quick shots,” Lady Cardinals head coach Travis Smalts said. “I do think we executed our defensive play really well. That’s what allowed us to win. We rebounded well, made enough free throws down the stretch, and got enough defensive stops to pull out a win.”
Allisa Peters and Megan Weber scored baskets in the opening minutes of the second half that gave Turpin a commanding 28-11 lead with 6:47 left in the third quarter. They were the last field goals Turpin would score in the game. Texhoma picked up their defensive pressure and forced the pace of the game faster. Turpin did not handle it well as the Lady Red Devils scored the next 17 points to tie the game (28-28) on a three with 4:19 left in the fourth quarter.
“For most of the third and early in the fourth quarter we didn’t value possession of the ball very well at all. It was like we got in a mode that we had to play fast, force passes, dribble into traffic, and take quick shots, which is not conducive to playing good basketball. But we did value it late and that allowed us to hang on for the win.”
The Lady Cardinals took better care of the ball over the final four minutes of the game and forced Texhoma to send them to the line. Turpin went 9 of 14 at the charity stripe in that time to hold on for the win.
Turpin started the game strong, building an 8-0 lead in the first four minutes, and led 10-4 at the end of the first. The Lady Cardinals extended the lead to double digits (18-8) midway through the second quarter and led 24-11 at halftime.
One key to the Lady Cardinals’ victory was their dominance on the boards, outrebounding the Lady Red Devils 33-17. Turpin was also 15-24 at the free throw line while Texhoma was just 5 of 12.
Megan Weber led the way for Turpin with 16 points and 11 rebounds and was 8 of 10 at the line. Alissa Peters scored 7 and grabbed 5 boards; Macee Strain also added seven, and Tatum Boyd grabbed nine boards.
Turpin (14-8) advances to the Regional Tournament at Okeene and will take on Cheyenne-Reydon, Thursday at 6 p.m. A win will send them to the Regional Championship on Saturday at Canute. A loss means they must play at Canute Friday against Arapaho-Butler or The Academy.
