CA girls fall to Memorial in tourney

By John Martin
Staff Writer

The Carl Albert Lady Titans ran into difficulties at the free throw line in the second half and were defeated by Edmond Memorial, 46-40, in the battle for third place in Saturday’s action at the Titan Classic basketball tournament.

“I told them that no one can win going 9 for 31 from the free throw line,” said CA coach Kyle Richey following the contest. “We played well enough to win, but you can’t leave that many points at the line against a good team.”

For the second straight contest, the Lady Titans were hot from beyond the three-point line, connecting on five in the first half while battling the Lady Bulldogs to a 24-all tie at intermission.

But in the second half, the CA girls downed only one trey and missed 11 free throws as the Edmond girls pulled away.

All-Tournament honoree Azya Poole led the way for the Titans with 14 points, TC Traylor had 8 and Mariah Taylor added 7.

THREE’S FAIL. The Carl Albert Lady Titans have usually depended heavily on the three point shot during their 12-1 start to the current season and steady climb into the No. 2 spot in the OSSAA Class 5A state rankings.

Friday night in the semifinals of the annual Titan Classic, they both lived and died by the trey during a 53-43 upset by McGuinness in the semifinals of the tournament.

McGuinness is no slouch as the Irish are now 11-2 and ranked No. 8 in the state.

In Friday’s contest, Azya Poole had two treys in the opening quarter and Kamryn Sutton added another to go with a field goal by Mariah Taylor for a narrow 11-10 lead after one quarter or play.

In the second period, Kennedy Cofer, Aerin Talley, TC Traylor and Poole each connected on a three and Traylor added a field goal for a 25-22 lead over the Irish at intermission.

But after sinking 7 from behind the arc before intermission, the CA Ladies drew a blank from the three-line until Sutton hit midway through the final period.

The game was tied at 31-all at the 3:10 mark of the third period when McGuinness mounted a comeback and took a 39-32 lead into the final quarter. The Irish continued to add to the lead, which reached 10 at the buzzer.

Poole led her team in scoring as usual with 13 points and Traylor added 9 to the tally.

THE LADY TITANS registered an easy 51-25 victory over Glenpool on the first day of the tournament as Coach Kyle RIchey’s girls were dropping three-point bombs all over the place and forced numerous turnovers with their pressure defense.

CA put the contest out of reach early, as Aerin Talley, TC Traylor, Kamryn Sutton and Azya Poole each had a trey in the opening period as the Lady Titans jumped on top, 14-2, and were never really challenged.

In all, Carl Albert scored 10 from behind the arc, three each by Traylor and Poole, two by Sutton and one each from Kennedy Cofer and Talley.

Poole added a couple of field goals for scoring honors with 13 points, Traylor had 9, Sutton added 8 while Ari Diaz and freshman Ausha Moore each had six.

Talley, Cofer and Marian Taylor had the remainder of the points. The Lady Titans built a 42-15 advantage going into the final period before Richey cleared the bench. The win upped the CA record to 12 and kept them right behind No. 1 Sapulpa in the OSSAA Class 5A rankings.