Oak Ridge rolls past Cy-Fair to improve to 13-4
OAK RIDGE NORTH — Oak Ridge took a lead in the first quarter and held it the rest of the way in a 61-43 win over visiting CyFair on Friday.
The Lady War Eagles (13-4) put defensive pressure on the Lady Bobcats (3-11) early and often in the non-district win.
“Our defense has been playing really good for us and kind of setting the tone of the game,” Oak Ridge coach Deidre Vasquez said. “It was nice tonight — I felt like our bench came in and gave us a lift offensively and defensively as well.”
Cy-Fair held an early lead before the Lady War Eagles closed the opening quarter on an 11-0 run. A 3-pointer from Rylee Batson gave Oak Ridge a 7-6 lead — its first of the game — and the lead was 15-6 after eight minutes.
By the final buzzer, the Lady War Eagles saw nine different scorers. Vasquez said watching her deep bench hold the lead was encouraging.
“We had the lead and were able to keep the lead even though we were subbing a lot of people,” she said. “Playing with the lead and keeping it is important. There have been games this season where we’ve been down and had to fight back. It’s nice to come in and take care of business on the defensive end to take the pressure off of us offensively.”
The Lady Bobcats outscored the Lady War Eagles 12-11 in the second quarter. Oak Ridge didn’t score in the second until Alecia Whyte’s 3-pointer with 4:25 to play, but tenacious defense kept the lead intact.
Whyte scored eight of her game-high 16 points in the first half. Alyssa Gonzales and Maddie Morris each had eight points, while Briana Solares and Devan Caldwell scored seven apiece.
For much of the third quarter, the teams went basket for basket. Backto-back field goals from Solares and Nicole Petrakovitz — both players who came off the bench — gave the Lady War Eagles a 4130 lead with 38 seconds to play in the third.
Oak Ridge kept a comfortable lead in the fourth quarter and held Cy-Fair scoreless for the first 2:41 of the final quarter. Amanda Turpin, who led the Lady Bobcats with nine points, hit a 3-pointer with 2:09 to play, but Oak Ridge drained the clock the rest of the way.
The Lady War Eagles are back in action at Katy on Monday. Vasquez hopes to see her team continue to grow as District 12-6A play nears.
“This is a great group of young ladies and they believe in each other,” she said. “We’re still working on getting the chemistry right offensively. Once that starts clicking, I think things are going to be really good here at Oak Ridge.”