Both Coffeyville squads struggled offensively Saturday against Cowley County, dropping the women’s contest 57-54 and the men’s contest 86-77.
Playing in a notoriously difficult Cowley gym, the women couldn’t seem to get it going at the outset. For the second straight game, the opposing Tigers packed in a 2-3 zone and forced the Red Ravens to shoot from outside. Although Coffeyville would not struggle as much as they had to against Barton earlier this week, it was still enough for the Tigers to take a 1-point lead into the half, 30-29. Defensively, Coffeyville was still the powerhouse that they have been for most of the season, keeping the Tigers to nearly 30 points under their average. However, Coffeyville would trail for most of the second half. Clutch threes down the stretch would keep the Ravens close, but Martina Aeschliman’s chance to tie would be blocked, allowing Cowley to dribble out the rest of the clock and take the 3-point victory.
Paige Scott once again led the Ravens in scoring with 16, while KK Lay added 11. Coffeyville’s women fall to 12-6 on the season and 11-6 in Jayhawk Conference play.
Fans packed the limited-capacity gym for the men’s game, featuring two teams ranked in the latest NJCAA polls. The Coffeyville men would come out quickly, starting the game on a 6-0 run, but Cowley would match with 7 straight points of their own. Both teams would uncharacteristically struggle on offense for much of the first half. Coffeyville would be the ones trailing at halftime, though, 42-36. A big run at the start of the second half would boost Cowley’s lead to 12 at 53-41, but Coffeyville would fight back to take the lead, leading to several minutes of punching back and forth. Coffeyville would effectively doom itself, however, missing several key layups and free throws and leaving easy points off the board. One more Cowley run would be too much to handle, as Coffeyville dropped only its second game of the year, 86-77.
Tylor Perry followed up his performance against Neosho with 24 on Saturday. Bostyn Holt and Markeith Browning also entered double-digits in the loss. Coffeyville shot just 53% from the free throw line. The Red Ravens fall to 17-2 on the season and 15-2 in conference play. They hold a half-game lead over Cowley for the #1 seed in the upcoming Region VI tournament.
Both teams will return to Nellis Hall for the last week of the regular season. A Montgomery County showdown awaits as Independence visits Coffeyville on Monday. Tip-off for the women’s game will come at 5:30, with pregame starting at 5:15 on 98.1, KUSN.
