Sulphur rallied from a 13-point deficit late in the second half, but couldn’t overcome several difficult shots from Cache’s point guard, and ended up losing to the Bulldogs out west, 59-52, in district basketball tournament action last Saturday.
The Dogs were on the road in a difficult setting at Cache and fell behind in the first half as Cache drained several shots to forge a sizable lead.
Sulphur head coach Grant Bates said his team prepared well and went into the tournament with a good game plan, but fell short after being unable to make up the big first-half deficit.
Cache added to first-half lead throughout the third quarter before the Dogs called a time-out to make several adjustments in the lineup. “We pulled it to 2 points inside two minutes left and their point guard hit a very difficult shot to keep our run from tying the game and we had to foul to try and slow the clock and ended up with a loss, 59-52,” said Bates.
Four Sulphur players scored well in the narrow loss. Bridge Barret led with 16 points and six assists, followed by Kale Brakefield, 12 points and five rebounds, Mavric Lowrance, 10 points and three rebounds, and Garin Watson, 9 points and 10 rebounds.
“I was proud of the fight from the players when their back was against the wall and not playing well they found a way to dig in and make it a game in the end,” said Bates. “Truthfully, we had a poor middle third of the game, and against good teams you have to put a consistent four quarters together and we weren’t able to do that. We will continue to improve at practice and look to advance through the regional championship next weekend.”
While the loss sends Sulphur into the regional consolation bracket, they did draw a bye in the first round, and now will move to the consolation semifinals where they will meet the loser of the Ardmore-Lone Grove game in a match-up set for Friday, Feb. 27, at 7:30 p.m. at the Douglass High School gym.
Girls Lose To Cache In District Tourney
Sulphur’s Lady Bulldogs were sent to the regional consolation bracket after a narrow, 42-29 loss to Cache in a game that preceded the boy’s game.
Sulphur will now face Star Spencer on Thursday, Feb. 26 at 6:00 p.m., in the Douglass High School gym.
The winner of that game will go on to compete in nal consolation semifinals on Friday, Feb. 27 at 6:00, also at Douglass.
