ELGIN – Elgin’s Lady Owls dominated Clinton Tuesday night while earning a 60-30 win over their Western Conference opponent.
The Lady Owls jumped out to a 20-6 lead after the first quarter and improved that advantage to 36-27 at halftime. However, Clinton tallied the first seven points of the third quarter prompting Elgin head coach Brett Sanders to begin using a defensive press. The move kept Clinton at bay the remainder of the game.
“I’m happy with it (the win),” he said. “We had a good scoring balance.”
Elgin was led in scoring by Danika Pendley with 18 points followed by Taylor Squyres with 11 and point guard Maycee Hill with nine. Lizzie Peak contributed eight points while Kelby Carter added five more. All total, nine Lady Owls made their way into the scoring column.
The win improved Elgin’s record to 10-3. It was Elgin’s second win in a row after its 37-34 loss to No. 7 Anadarko.
Elgin 52, Elk City 50
The Lady Owls led by as many as 18 points in the third quarter, but Elk City’s three-point shooting allowed the Elkettes to chip away at the lead the rest of the second half.
“Elk City is a really good ball club and they’re good shooters,” Sanders said. “They were getting girls open in the corner and we didn’t cover. It was a single fix. We just didn’t cover well.”
Elgin countered Elk City’s three-point shooting with free throws late in the fourth quarter. Each time Elk City would come within striking distance, the host team would foul the Lady Owls on the next possession.
“We shot our free throws well when they were fouling us,” Sanders said.
Carter led the Lady Owls in scoring with 16 points, including some key free throws late in the game.
Elgin, ranked No. 19 in Class 4A, played Plainview Thursday afternoon in the first round of the Purcell Tournament, but results were not available at press time. A win would pit the Lady Owls against the winner of the Purcell-OKC Knights game 7 p.m. Friday. Purcell is ranked No. 10 in Class 3A.
Anadarko, ranked No. 7 in 4A, is the highest ranked team in the tournament with an 11-2 record.
After the tournament, Elgin hits the road with tough games at Weatherford Jan. 24 and at Tuttle Jan. 27. Weatherford is ranked No. 4 in Class 4A and Tuttle is at No. 2.
Elgin returns home Jan. 31 to play Blanchard.
