CHOCTAW — Midwest City girls basketball coach Katie Tompson turned the past week into defensive practice, working on keeping Choctaw players in check.
The result was a near flawless performance Tuesday night creating 17 turnovers as the ninth-ranked Bombers routed No. 2 Choctaw 53-38 for a second win in the series this season.
“That was the best team defensive basketball that we’ve done in a long time, and it was just unbelievable,” Tompson said.
Midwest City (11-3) had not played a game in two weeks, a break that proved advantageous with the shutdown defense and stout rebounding effort that it won 40-27.
“I always tell them there’s two main things you can beat a top-10 team with: rebounding and your defense,” Tompson said. “Offense, in my opinion, we’re always going to find ways to score. I’ve got amazing girls that can get the ball to the rim, but if we can out-rebound and we can out-defense we’ve won.”
The Bombers came alive in the second half after shaking off the rust in the first, turning an 18-12 advantage into a 37-20 lead going into the fourth.
Choctaw (14-2) had not played in nine days, which brought on a lot of trouble. It never quite shook off sluggishness until late in the fourth quarter when it was able to get within eight with 2:18 left.
But Midwest City responded with an 11-4 run to close out the game and take down its rival.
“Somehow we love playing Choctaw,” Midwest City senior guard Chinna Fair said. “They’re a good team to play against. We go work against them and other teams, but it’s a good thing playing Choctaw. They’re a good group of girls. It’s good competition. We just love playing Choctaw.”
Fair, who has signed with University of Texas-Arlington, finished with 16 points, five rebounds and two assists. Asia Davis and Coriauna Burkhalter added 12 points apiece.
Oklahoma commitment Ana Llanusa scored 24 points, but she was one of only three scorers for the Yellowjackets.
MWC: Fair 16, Davis 12, Burkhalter 12, Stevenson 5, Burley 3, Quarles 3, Reeves 1, Smith 1.
Choctaw: Llanusa 24, Fairley 8, Golden 6.
