North Rock Creek squads sink Byng twice
Dec. 20—SHAWNEE — For three quarters, the Byng Lady Pirates outplayed a tough North Rock Creek team on its home court.
But the Lady Cougars limited Byng to just six points in the fourth period and rallied past the Lady Pirates for a 44-38 win.
North Rock Creek, ranked No. 18 in Class 4A, improved to 7-1 on the season, while Byng saw a three-game winning streak come to an end and dropped to 5-4.
In the boy's game, North Rock Creek also used a big fourth quarter to pull away from the Pirates 56-42. The Cougars, ranked No. 2 in Class 4A, stayed perfect at 8-0 while Byng dipped to 6-3.
The Byng girls now turn their focus to the 45th annual Bertha Frank Teague Mid-America Classic, scheduled for Dec. 28-30 inside East Central University's Kerr Activities Center.
The Pirates are off for the holidays and return to the court on Jan. 4 at the East Central Oklahoma Classic, hosted by Ada High School. Byng will meet Tulsa McClain at 5:30 p.m. in a first-round matchup.
GIRLS
NRC 44, Byng 38
Byng trailed 8-7 after the first quarter but turned things around with a 14-9 run in the second period to go on top 21-17 at halftime. Byng extended its lead to 34-28 heading into the fourth quarter but North Rock Creek ended the game on a game-changing 16-6 surge.
"I thought we did a really nice job taking their best scorers out of the ballgame, especially from behind the arc because they really rely on their outside shooting to carry their offense," said Byng head coach Luke Clark. "We just weren't able to make enough winning plays and generate enough offense to close the game to beat a really good team like North Rock Creek."
Cadence Carlos led the Byng offense with 13 points and Alona Cooper followed with 10, including a pair of 3-pointers. Blakely Miller chipped in seven points. She and Carlos both made one 3-point basket.
Addisen Lawrence led the Lady Cougars with 10 points, including two triples. Lydia VanAntwerp and Olivia McCray both contributed eight points apiece for the hosts.
BOYS
NRC 56, Byng 42
North Rock Creek led 9-6 after the first period and held a 24-19 advantage at halftime. Both teams scored 14 points apiece in the third quarter before the Cougars pulled away with an 18-9 fourth-quarter run.
"We did a very good job of executing our game plan defensively. On the offensive end, we struggled to make open shots," said Byng head coach Jared Gambrel. "We did a great job at driving and kicking to open shooters, but we just couldn't get many shots to go down from the perimeter. I was very proud of how hard our boys fought despite our offensive struggles."
Malachi Schilreff poured in a game-high 24 points for the Pirates and connected on a pair of 3-pointers. Mark Birdshead also hit double figures with 10 points. No other BHS player scored more than four.
Caleb Hawkins paced a balanced NRC offense with 15 points. Devon Haney was next with 11 points and David King hit a pair of triples and scored 10. Cason Coomer just missed double figures with nine points for the home team.
