Denton Ryan evens score with The Colony

Rowdy crowds and a playoff atmosphere pervaded Friday night as the top girls and boys teams in District 5-4A squared off in The Colony. One game went to overtime, and both were decided by slim margins in the final moments.

Though it was The Colony who swept the night when these teams meet in early January, this night it was Denton Ryan's turn to win out on the other school's homecourt.

A fourth-quarter surge by the Raiders (10-1) propelled them to a 48-46 win over the Cougars (10-1). Ryan was led by big man Adam Choplick, who scored 20 points on 8 of 10 shooting with 10 rebounds. Teammate Bud Sasser had 16 points, including a late 3-pointer.

The Cougars were led by Austin Chatman, who scored 8 of his 15 points in the third quarter despite being sidelined for much of it with an injury. Jordan Williams created plenty of good scoring chances but struggled finishing around the basket, scoring 13 points.

In a game that was well-played by both teams from the start, The Colony had an 8-point lead in the third thanks mostly to their defensive intensity. The Cougars held Ryan scoreless from the field in the quarter, giving up 7 points, all on free throws.

But Ryan found the basket in the fourth, outscoring The Colony 12-6 over the final 8 minutes. And for the game, the Raiders went to the line 21 times to just 10 for the Cougars.

The Colony head coach Cleve Ryan was naturally disappointed with the result.

"It's a tough loss. They're a good team," Ryan said. "We didn't execute down the stretch and they got us."

Denton Ryan and The Colony are now tied for first in 5-4A. Coach Ryan hopes his team learned something about playing in big games.

"It was definitely a playoff atmosphere," Ryan said. "You never know what it's like until you get in these situations. It's good to have this practice before we get there for real."

Up against a team with size in the middle, sophomore post Antoine Burrell saw heavy minutes before fouling out with 8 points and 5 rebounds. Brent Okpoh led the Cougars with 7 rebounds.

In the first game of Friday's doubleheader, inspired play by The Colony's Santana Francisco wasn't enough to prevent the Lady Raiders from pulling out a 71-67 overtime win.

Ryan's De'Amber Wilhite scored 9 of her game-high 30 points in the fourth quarter to stake her side a slim lead. But Francisco drilled a clutch 3-pointer with 6 seconds left to send the game into overtime.

Midway through the extra period, Francisco was fouled while hitting a baseline scoop-shot falling out of bounds. Her free throw put the Lady Cougars ahead, 65-60.

From then on, however, it was all the Lady Raiders. Keisha Blanson scored 7 of her 15 points in the overtime to seal the win for Denton Ryan.

The Colony head coach Jason Weese took some comfort in knowing his team played hard and gave the fans plenty to cheer about despite the loss.

"It was a great girls high school basketball game. Everyone on the floor competed their tails off," Weese said. "You just want to be on the other end of it."

Ashlee Ferguson led The Colony with 20 points. Tabbatha Thurmond added 16. Domineak Darrough scored 12 and Teana Ogden had 10 points for the Lady Raiders.

As on the boys side, the two teams now sit tied atop the standings. Both are 12-1 with one game to go. Ryan hosts Denton Guyer on Tuesday while The Colony travels to Lake Dallas.

Weese is counting on his squad to move beyond the frustrations of Friday's loss and maintain the winning attitude that has helped them succeed so far this season.

"This is the most intelligent ballclub I've ever coached, and they have the biggest hearts," he said. "We're towards the end of our season and we're playing really good basketball. We're going to come back on Monday, and continue to improve, and finish out the year as strong as we can."

Current Rating: 0 of 0 votes!

Rate File: Select Rating: * ** *** ****