Alva Review-Courier -

In their final game of the regular season, the Alva Ladybugs traveled to Woodward Monday for a rescheduled matchup. It was a close contest throughout the first three quarters until the Alva girls pulled away to win 56-40 in the final period.

Brooke Perez was still sitting out due to concussion concerns but her teammates stepped up to cover her spot.

The Lady Boomers jumped out to a 6-0 lead before Lexie Reihm got the first Alva basket to fall through. Rianna Clark added another two, but Woodward answered with two more baskets to lead 10-4. Payton Jones was fouled and hit both points from the free throw line. Then Clark grabbed the ball and went for a successful breakaway layup before the buzzer sounded. Woodward led 10-8 at the end of the first period.

In the second quarter, Alva pulled within one point of the Boomer lead 12-11 on a basket by Jones and a free throw from Reihm. After one more Woodward basket, both teams hit a dry spell until Acacia Charles hit a basket. Jones quickly scored, and the Ladybugs had their first lead of the night 15-14.

Following a few more scoring tries, Woodward managed two points to pull ahead. Charles regained the Alva lead on two from the charity stripe. Woodward added another basket to pull ahead. Charles hit two free throws. Woodward answered with a three, and Clark hit another basket to tie the score at 21. Reihm tried for a basket but it didn't fall through. However Jones made the stick-back, and Alva led 23-21 at the half.

At the mid-point, Charles led the Ladybugs in scoring with eight, followed by Jones and Clark with six each and Reihm with three.

The third quarter was a close-fought battle as the Lady Boomers pulled ahead and kept a small lead throughout. Alva was down by four near the end of the period but Jones hit one of two free throws and then made a bucket to pull within one. Woodward's buzzer-beater three failed, and the Lady Boomers led 34-33 at the end of the third.

The determined Ladybugs fought back in the fourth as Jones hit two baskets and Charles added a layup while Woodward scored only three points. Alva now led 39-36. The competition started getting really physical with each team defending and no baskets falling. Chloe Durkee gave the Ladybugs a boost with a three-pointer, the first in the game for her team. Jones went to the rim and was hammered by a Boomer. She retaliated with two points from the charity line.

As Woodward tried to claw back into the lead, the Alva team defended their territory. Reihm hit a basket to put Alva up by ten at 46-36. The Lady Boomers managed two baskets before fouling Jones again as she went for the hoop. She nailed both shots, and Alva led 48-40. Woodward started doubling up on the Alva shooters. Durkee made two free throws. Then Charles added a basket and two free throws to put Alva up 54-40. The Ladybugs kept the Boomers from scoring, and Durkee added two more free throws for the final of 56-40.

Jones led the Alva scoring with 19 points, scoring 13 of those in the second half. Charles followed with 14, Durkee had 10, Clark eight and Reihm five. Jones had a double-double as she accounted for 11 rebounds. Charles was also active on the boards with nine.

Woodward freshman Thessaly Pfeifer was their only player with double-digit scoring at 15 points. Another freshman Ava Long had nine. Senior Payton Rowley totaled six points and Madison Gartrell had five, Masey Porter had four and Makale Floyd one.

Class 4A Woodward finished regular play with a 9-13 record while Alva improved to 22-1.

Saturday night, Alva will host a district playoff with Blackwell at 6:30 p.m. Both the winner and runner-up will advance to regionals to be played at Community Christian School in Norman. The winner plays at 6:30 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 27, against the winner of the Community Christian and Lone Grove game. The loser from Saturday night advances to the consolation bracket to play at 1:30 p.m. Thursday against the runner-up of the Community Christian and Lone Grove contest.