Lady Blues fall to Nocona, 57-33

After claiming their first win of the season earlier in the week, the Graham Lady Blues ran into some difficulties against the Nocona Lady Indians in a 57-33 loss Friday, Nov. 17.

The visiting Lady Indians came into the game ranked No. 3 in Class 2A in Texas and showed why they’ve earned that ranking throughout the game. Nocona jumped out to a quick 8-0 lead thanks to back-to-back 3-pointers before Maddie Franklin got the Lady Blues on the board with a layup to make it 8-2.

While Nocona continued the team’s hot start, the Lady Blues struggled with accuracy to start the game despite getting off a number of shots that just wouldn’t fall. By the end of the first quarter, the Lady Blues trailed 15-6.

In the second quarter Graham started to figure things out offensively and the Lady Blues had a much better shooting percentage in the second quarter. The main problem was the Lady Indians kept up their hot shooting as well to keep a sizable lead over the Lady Blues.

Hannah Williams opened up the second quarter with her first and only 3-pointer of the game off an assist from Franklin. Another 3-pointer a few plays later from Mayci Ryans and the Lady Blues pulled to their closest point of the game when they trailed 15-12.

But the visiting Lady Indians quickly found their shooting stroke again and opened the lead back up. Graham continued to receive offensive contributions from multiple players as Addyson Weaver knocked down a 3-pointer followed later by Emilee Gordy, who recorded her first points after securing an offensive rebound and finishing a putback layup while getting fouled.

But despite the diverse offense, the Lady Blues went into halftime trailing 29-18.

“I thought we took better shots tonight. The ball may not have fallen in some of those shots, but I thought we had a lot of good looks from outside,” head coach Kyle Wood said. “I thought we had some good looks from the high post area that were great shots and you keep shooting. And as the season progresses, you hope to kind of hit those shots.”

In the third quarter Nocona came out with a faster pace than in the first half. The Lady Indians tried to utilize the fast break and transition game to get easier baskets and it caused some difficulties for Graham’s defense.

While Nocona’s offense kept up a consistent shooting ability, the Lady Blues struggled to make shots. The uptempo nature of the visitors’ offense caused a lot of scrambling for Graham as the team tried to adjust.

By the fourth quarter the Lady Indians had opened up a large lead but Graham was able to slow them down while hitting more shots from inside the arc.

“I thought we missed some shots maybe in the third (quarter) that we might have made in the second (quarter),” Wood said. “But I thought probably the separation took place, just their ability to get out and push the ball up the court and just make us play in transition rather than (let us) get set.”

Nocona left with the win and the Lady Blues fell to 1-3 on the season, but Wood has liked the progress his team has shown in each game. It’s a long season and the team will have time to improve and reach the top of their game.

“I thought this was probably our most complete game just as far as communicating with each other and playing our overall game against a really, really good opponent that's going to make a long run in the playoffs.”

The next home game for the Lady Blues will take place Tuesday, Nov. 28 against Stamford at 6:15 p.m.