Alva Review-Courier -

ALVA, Okla. – On Tuesday, the local basketball coaches had a chance to update a group of supporters at The Other Place restaurant as the leaders from Alva High School and Northwestern Oklahoma State addressed the Quarterback Club at its weekly meeting.

In attendance was Alva Goldbug coach Shane Feely, Ladybugs head man Dusty Horn, Lady Rangers leader Tasha Diesselhorst and the Rangers head coach Shawn Dirden.

Horn on the Ladybugs

It was a tough week of action between club meetings for the Ladybugs as they dropped its final regular season game at Woodward, 66-45, on Feb. 13. In the first meeting between the two teams, the Boomers hit 17 three-pointers against the Bugs, but didn’t shoot as well in the second matchup.

“We played a little better this last Tuesday against Woodward, and they didn’t shoot it quite as well,” said Horn. “We felt better coming out of that game than we did the first one.”

The Ladybugs kicked off the playoff portion of the schedule on Saturday at home. However, it didn’t play out as well as they would have liked, falling to rival Chisholm in the district championship game, 44-42, in double overtime.

“They gave us a good shot. We played well for the most part, but we couldn’t keep them off the free throw line. I felt like that was the difference in the game.”

“We rebounded well and defending okay, we just couldn’t hit shots all night long. It was tough way to lose, but we aren’t in a bad position and look forward to the regional tournament. Its not the end of the road, we like where we’re out and hope to play well.”

The Ladybugs try to get back on track through the regional consolation bracket. They take on Hennessey on Friday at 3:30 p.m. at Chisholm High School. If they win, they move on to face the loser between Oklahoma Christian School and Adair at 1:30 p.m. on Saturday at Perkins-Tryon High School in Perkins.

Feely on the Bugs

The Goldbugs also suffered a loss in the final seconds of the game as the Woodward Boomers won the boys tilt on Feb. 13, 46-45. After a furious run by the Boomers late in the fourth, the Bugs decided to spread the offense out. When Woodward got the ball back late, coach Feely decided to put the Boomers on the line.

“We played a good ballgame for the vast majority of the game. We decided we weren’t going to let them have the last shot, so we fouled them to put them on the line to make sure we had the last shot.”

Unfortunately, the final shot wouldn’t fall for the Bugs as the game came to an end.

It was a different story in a 55-36 loss to Chisholm in the district championship game on Saturday. The Longhorns got the best of the Goldbugs with 13 three-pointers, while the Bugs struggled from outside.

“After watching film, I can’t say that we were playing poorly, we were just shooting poorly. We did a good job blocking out throughout the game. We will spend a lot of time in practice this week shooting and trying to get our confidence back that way.”

The Bugs, losers on nine of their last 10 games, have a chance to get going at the right time as they take on Newkirk at 5 p.m. Friday at Chisholm High School. With a win, they will battle the loser between Oklahoma Christian School and Salina at 3 p.m. on Saturday at Perkins-Tryon High School in Perkins.

Diesselhorst on the Lady Rangers

Northwestern Lady Rangers had an up and down week between the meetings, starting with an overtime road loss at Oklahoma Baptist, 98-89.

“It was a tough game for us. We ended up going back and forth, had our chances and opportunities to win down the stretch, just didn’t get it done in overtime,” mentioned Diesselhorst. “The girls bounced back really well and had a good performance on Saturday.”

The bounce back win was a 78-71 outcome over Southern Nazarene at home.

“The win put us back in position for postseason play. We had a great crowd and its always a great atmosphere to play in.”

Coming off a victory, the Lady Rangers were tasked with a date against rival and nationally ranked Southwestern Oklahoma State. The Bulldogs got out to a big lead in the first half, but the Lady Rangers clawed back to outscore the Lady Dawgs 48-33 in the second half.

“We got off to a slow start, and felt like it was deer in the headlights for some of the younger girls. They took the ball out of Jade’s (Jones) hands and we weren’t as aggressive as we needed to be in the first half.”

But it wasn’t enough as the Lady Rangers fell, 85-74.

“We had a much better second half, but just dug ourselves to much of a hole to crawl ourselves out of it. We probably need to win two games to give ourselves a shot. So, we are going to regroup and refocus and try to win two on the road.”

Dirden on the Rangers

Late game heroics by Brandon Green was something Dirden addressed multiple times during the event. Green hit two game winners over the weekend, helping him to Great American Conference Co-Player of the Week nod.

Green hit the go-ahead basket in a 76-75 win at Oklahoma Baptist.

“It was very momentous win as we prepared to go into Saturday’s game against the No. 10 team in the nation,” Dirden said of the win against OBU.

Green’s biggest shot of his Ranger career came on Senior Day against No. 10 Southern Nazarene. Green hit a buzzer beating three-pointer from about 45 feet out to win the game for the Rangers, 53-52.

It was a low scoring affair as both teams were near the top of the conference in nearly every defensive category.

“knew it was going to be that type of game,” addressed Dirden.

“The building was electrifying and we got great performances defensively from everyone. Knocking off the No. 10 team in the country, at home, was just a very special moment we were able to share with our fans in Percefull.”

The Rangers made it seven straight wins on Monday with a victory over rival SWOSU at home, 86-77.

“Us with everything at stake and them with not as much as stake in their season, but you throw the records out when you play those guys.”

“Defensively we really got after it. They have the leading scorer in the conference and he got 10 in the first half, but we held him to five in the second half. The thing we have been laying our hat on is defense and rebounding, and it was apparent in the game.”