Another day, another two wins for Coffeyville. Both teams took care of business against Cloud County Wednesday night, with the women knocking off the Thunderbirds 66-56, with the men doing the same at 82-67.
The women's game saw leading scorer Faith Simpson return to the lineup after missing one game due to injury. She would look good in her first few minutes, dominating down low and forcing Cloud County's leading scorer, Le'Yanna McGinnis, to exit the game early with two personal fouls. However, Simpson would soon pick up two fouls of her own and have to sit out for much of the first half herself. The Red Ravens would lead by 1 at 30-29 heading into the half, but any notions of a back-and-forth ball game were tossed aside as Coffeyville outscored the Thunderbirds 24-13 in the third quarter. Cloud County would win the fourth quarter, but it was too little too late, as Coffeyville cruised to a 10-point victory.
Simpson led all scorers on the evening with 20. She was joined in double digits by Kailyn Lay, who scored a season-high 11. After the game, head coach Tony Turner expressed admiration for his team's defensive effort. Coffeyville's women improve to 6-2 on the season and 5-2 in Jayhawk Conference play. The team has extended its winning streak to three.
The men's game provided quite a bit more than fans bargained for early. Despite coming in on a two-game losing streak, Cloud County came in hot and used excellent three-point shooting to keep up with the Red Raven men, who couldn't seem to get up to their usual pace. Cloud County would actually lead for much of the first half and even headed into the locker rooms with a 35-33 advantage. Coffeyville, despite eventually turning things around, never seemed to find their stride from outside the arc, going 3-of-17 from three-point range. However, the Red Ravens would adjust their gameplan into going for easy buckets inside, a strategy that allowed them to lead by as much as 18 in the second half. Coffeyville would cruise the rest of the way, dispatching the very game Thunderbirds, 82-67.
After the game's conclusion, head coach Jay Herkelman addressed his team's early struggles. Love Bettis led the charge with 19 points, followed by Tylor Perry, who recorded 16 points of his own. Blaise Keita, who sat out 16 out of 20 minutes in the first half due to foul trouble, turned it around to finish with 13 on the night. The #2-ranked Red Raven men improve to 11-0 on the season and 9-0 in conference play.
Next up, a weekend matchup awaits Coffeyville as the teams visit Iola to take on Allen County Community College. It'll be an early noon tipoff, with pregame starting at 11:45 am on US98.1, KUSN.
