The Blanchard Lady Lions (No. 6 4A) used late rallies in each of the first two quarters to run away from the Lady Outlaws.Blanchard (17-2) handed Marlow its second consecutive loss, 51-33, Tuesday night.
Scoring was at a premium in the early going, as Blanchard pulled its starting five after a sluggish start.
The Lady Outlaws, now 11-7, took advantage moving to a 7-4 lead at the 1:43 mark. But the top five Lady Lions returned, scoring the final eight points of the quarter as part of a 12-0 run.
Marlow responded in the second quarter, going on a 10-3 rally, to trim the Lady Lions lead to two, 19-17, at he 2:42 mark of the half. But eight more unanswered points put Blanchard ahead, 27-17, at halftime.
The Lady Outlaws, behind the efforts of Ashley O’Dell, made another comeback attempt in the third quarter. O’Dell became a one-woman wrecking crew, scoring nine unanswered points on her own, and 10 of the next 11 points to bring the Lady Outlaws within three, 30-27, with 3:20 remaining in the frame.
Blanchard’s late-quarter heroics fell short, as the Lady Lion lead was 36-30 entering the final quarter. O’Dell scored 12 of her game-high 23 in the third quarter, but also picked up four fouls in the frame, limiting her input in the final frame.
Blanchard constructed a 14-3 run to finish the contest.
Five Lady Outlaws entered the scoring column on the night, but O’Dell accounted for all but 10 of Marlow’s points.
Blanchard 74, Outlaws 53
A second-half rally fell short for Marlow, which dropped its fifth straight contest overall, and third to a ranked opponent.
Marlow is 4-14 on the season.
Blanchard (No. 17 4A) blasted out of the gates to an 18-5 lead after the first quarter, which expanded to 41-17 by halftime.
But, the Outlaws were not done.
Marlow had one of its highest scoring quarters of the season, pouring in 22 in the third frame behind a balanced attack.
Wes Coast and Jon Anderson each hit 3-pointers, and Jackson Huddleston and Trey Coffman added to the scoring, as Marlow trimmed the Lion lead, 55-39.
Wakley Bergner added two 3-pointers in the fourth quarter, but the first-half deficit proved to be too large to overcome.
Coast led the Outlaws with 12, while Anderson had 10.
Marlow will travel to Pauls Valley, as the Panthers celebrate homecoming Friday.
Lady Donkeys 58, Empire 43
After blowing out the Lady Bulldogs in December, Bray-Doyle reached its 15th victory on the season with a road win over Empire Tuesday.
In the first meeting Dec. 6, the Lady Donkeys limited Empire to just 18 points, while this meeting proved to be closer, as the Lady Bulldogs (7-13) brought the Bray-Doyle lead to five halfway through the fourth quarter.
But, Morgan Kovar added a couple of clutch 3-pointers late, adding to her 12 in the game, as the Lady Donkeys put the win away.
Bray-Doyle raced to a 20-8 lead at the end of the first quarter, but Empire battled to slim the advantage to 33-24 at the half.
The Lady Donkeys outscored the Lady Bulldogs, 17-7, down the stretch to move to 15-5 on the season.
Sarah Justus paced the Lady Donkeys with 19.
Empire 66, Donkeys 41
The Donkeys stayed with Empire early, trailing two before the Bulldogs scored the final 11 points of the first quarter.
The run put the game out of reach for the Donkeys, which dropped to 3-15 on the season, suffering its fifth consecutive loss.
The Bulldogs, which fell to Bray-Doyle back in December, put three in double figures and improved to 8-11.
Ronnie Keck led the Donkeys with 14 points, while also grabbing 17 rebounds. Jesse Bearce had seven.
Bray-Doyle is back on the road Friday at Ringling.
Sterling 48, Lady Bronchos 33
The first ranked opponent of the season handed Central High a loss at the Broncho Gymnasium Tuesday night.
It was the first loss for the Lady Bronchos (14-6) at home this season, as No. 13 Sterling won the physical battle.
Sterling (21-3) scored the final six points for a 9-7 first quarter lead, and increased that lead to 21-14 by halftime.
Austyn Taylor led the Lady Bronchos with 13, while Nikole Repp had 10.
Sterling 67, Bronchos 37
Central High dropped to 10-10 on the season, falling to the No. 9 team in Class A.
Sterling trailed only once in the game, taking the lead back halfway through the first quarter, and never looked back.
Sophomore Kevin Harris led the Bronchos with 11, while Connor Albiston had 9.
Central High caps the season hosting Paoli on Feb. 7.