The Washington Lady Warriors are one step closer to a gold ball after defeating Bethel 54-27 at the Big House Tuesday morning.
They leaned on their suffocating defense to limit Bethel to 11 second half points.
“Defense is always a key for us but we’ve been more intentional about it lately,” said head coach Kale Simon. “We forced some turnovers later in the game and started rebounding better.”
Washington found themselves down 12-10 after the first quarter before pulling away in the second half.
“We were trying too hard to make it happen early,” Simon said. “We forced a few things but settled down and let the game come to us.”
After the first quarter Washington bounced back and outscored Bethel 15-4 in the second quarter.
Breanna Lindert led all scorers with 12 points.
Kelby Beller joined her in double figures with 10 points, while Preslee Johnson had eight.
But it was the defense that got it done for the Warriors.
They forced Bethel to take contested shots and the Wildcats were unable to make baskets.
“I was proud of the way we played team defense,” Simon said. “They have a really good player and I was proud of how we didn’t lose sight of her. It was a team effort on defense.”
Holdenville
Washington defeated the Holdenville Wolverines 45-33 in the Area tournament finals for their berth to the State tournament.
The Warriors again used their stifling defense to their advantage as they kept Holdenville from feeling comfortable on the offensive end of the floor.
For the Warriors, Lindert again led all scorers with 17 points.
She was feeling it in the second half where she made all but two of her points.
And she made a living at the free throw line, making 11 charity shots including eight in the fourth quarter.
Johnson scored nine points and made a pair of three pointers.
Beller had eight points, as did freshman Ava Salcedo.
Shelbie Caveness rounded out the Washington scoring, adding three points off of a trey in the third quarter.
Washington, now 24-3, plays Community Christian at 6:30 at Yukon High School in the semifinals of the State tournament.
The address for the gym is 1777 S. Yukon Pkwy.
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