Close, but not quite: Lady Bruins thump Durant, fall to Del City in 1-2 showing in tourney
Bartlesville High School’s girls basketball team proved again Saturday why it is sooooo close to turning a corner.
The Lady Bruins waged a fierce battle against Del City but just couldn’t get enough juice in a final quarter rally to turn it all the way around.
Del City held on to win, 42-36, in the fifth-place game of the Carl Albert tourney.
Bartlesville (4-11) came out of the weekend with a 1-2 record to reach four wins for the first time in two seasons.
Kate Gronigan and Mikka Chambers displayed some strong offense the first quarter to help the Lady Bruins tie Del City — which is ranked No. 6 in Class 5A — with an 11-11 score. Maider Ruiz also racked up an important deuce in the period.
Chambers dropped in a two — off a Ragen Hodge assist — to put Bartlesville up to start the second quarter, 13-11.
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Hodge also took a charge in the quarter.
But, Ada inched ahead by two possessions and led 23-19 at halftime.
Bartlesville’s offense hit an ice wall in the third period, however, and scored only four points, which allowed Del City to extended its lead to 10 points, 33-23.
But, the Justyn Shaw-coached Lady Bruins — sparked by a deuce by Grace McPhail — made a fourth quarter push.
They thundered to within eight points, 39-31, followed a two-pointer by Gronigan and triple by Kaylynn Duncan.
Later in the quarter, Duncan dropped in another downtown special that trimmed the lead to five, 41-36.
But, Bartlesville missed four straight free throws — on a technical foul and two-shot foul — and Del City survived to win by six.
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The Lady Bruins on Friday lashed Durant, 51-38, for their tourney win.
Chambers scored 14 to lead Bartlesville’s balanced scoring sheet, followed by Gronigan with 10.
Bartlesville rallied from a half-time deficit to erupt for 18 points in the third quarter and their noteworthy win.
Gronigan finished with double-figure scoring in all three games and made the All-Tourney team.
Bartlesville eyes another mega-challenge Tuesday when it travels to Sapulpa to take on the state’s top-ranked Class 5A team. The Lady Bruins will be back home Friday.
This article originally appeared on Bartlesville Examiner-Enterprise: Bartlesville High girls basketball give all in Carl Albert tourney
