Coffeyville Has Little Problem With Odessa
The #10 seed Coffeyville CC Red Ravens, by virtue of their 89-62 triumph in the first found over Southwest Tennessee CC, had a match-up with #7 seed Odessa College (TX) who had a first round bye.
Odessa came into the tournament as an at-large entry from the Southwest District with a record of 21-2 after their first round win. Coffeyville, an at-large entry themselves from the Plains District, supported a record of 22-3. A battle of two perennial power programs was to ensue.
Odessa took control early building a 5 point lead 4 minutes in. After that, things seemed to switch in the direction of the Red Ravens. Seemed might be a an understatement. Five minutes later, CCC had flipped the scoreboard in their favor with an 11 point lead at 25-14.
Things continued to jell for Coffeyville, and when the dust finally settled, the Ravens had completed a 18-0 run turning a 14-14 tie into the beginning of a blow out, at 32-14.
The Red Ravens, playing in the national tournament for the 16th time, and fifth in a row, never took their foot off the pedal. Taking a 52-32 lead into the locker room, the Wranglers never recovered. CCC outscored Odessa 43-24 in the second stanza, to win going away, 95-56.
With the win, Coffeyville (24-3) takes a spot in the quarterfinals and will play #2 seed Northern Oklahoma – Tonkawa (24-1) on Thursday, April 22 at 2:00. NOC-T beat Holmes CC (MS) 77-66 in their opening game.
Leading the way for the Ravens was Love Bettis (5’10” FR from Pensacola, FL), who tallied 22 points. Five others ended up with double digits, Tylor Perry with 15, and a team high 7 boards, and 4 assists. Bostyn Holt finished with 14 and also had 4 helpers. Blaise Keita, Larry White, and Kevaughn Ellis each contributed 10.
Coffeyville forced 24 turnovers (compared to only 12 of their own), which led to a 33-9 margin in ponts off turnovers. CCC also had a decisive rebounding advantage at 37-28. Both of those stats were detrimental to the Wrangler cause.
There were 2 ties and 3 lead changes, all occurring in the first twenty minutes of action. Coffeville held the lead for 341/2 minutes in the game, taking their largest margin at 41 in the final minutes
With the loss, the Wranglers finish with a record of 20-3. Only one player reached double figures for Odessa. Tre Richardson, a 6’5″ FR from Louisville, KY, netted 11.
