OKLAHOMA CITY — —



This late in the junior college basketball world, if you have to lose one, might as well be now rather than the start of the regional playoffs.

In what was described as a 'wake up call' by Northern Oklahoma College Enid Lady Jets head coach Scott Morris, the nationally 5th-ranked Lady Jets (22-3) lost a chance to secure the Oklahoma Collegiate Athletic Conference title Saturday at the Mabee Center in a 54-47 loss to Seminole State College (16-8).

The NOC Enid men gained a split for the Jets with a 78-68 victory behind 18 points from Xavier McClish.

“That was a tough loss,’’ said a visibly disappointed Morris. “They were tougher than we were. They are a real athletic team but we lost the chess match out there today.’’

The Lady Jets, 13-1 in conference, will have another chance to clinch the championship Monday when they visit Western Oklahoma State. Seminole is now 9-5 in conference.

The Lady Jets trailed 28-23 at halftime after turning the ball over 11 times. Seminole pounded the offensive boards early and took advantage of the Lady Jets miscues to grab the halftime edge.

NOC Enid had 22 turnovers overall.

“Turnovers are a lack of toughness and that was evident in the way we handled the basketball,’’ Morris said. “We didn’t come out with mental toughness. There is an umbrella of about 50 areas of the game and we failed today in just about everyone one of them.’’

With 12:35 to go before intermission, Ashley Briegge scored on a put-back to give the Lady Jets a brief 14-11 lead. The NOC Enid offense became literally nonexistent after Briegge’s bucket and didn’t score for another six minutes. By the time Vanessa Bledsoe dropped in a free throw at 6:25, the Belles were up 21-15.

The Lady Jets fought back and trailed 23-22 at the 2:16 mark. A 5-1 Seminole run closed the half with NOC Enid behind, 28-23.

The second half didn’t get much better. Seminole dashed out to a 34-25 edge at the 16:52 mark. Seven minutes later, the Lady Jets pulled to within 38-32 on a Bledsoe putback. At 10:21, Briegge dropped in two from the charity stripe to make 40-34. It would be four minutes before the Lady Jets would score again and the Belles held a 46-36 edge.

With 18.9 seconds remaining, the Lady Jets cut the deficit to six at 50-44, but the Belles capitalized at the free throw line in the closing seconds to hold onto the lead and claim the 54-47 victory.

“I take full responsibility as the coach,’’ Morris said. “We obviously weren’t prepared. It is a good wake up call for us before the regional tournament starts."

It was the first time the Lady Jets had lost at home this season. The loss ended a 13-game winning streak.



NOC ENID 78, SEMINOLE 68 (M)

The Jets started slow but finished strong to raise their record to 10-4 in conference and 18-7 overall.

McClish led a strong charge in the last 10 minutes to put the game away. NOC Enid led 37-31 at halftime.

“Xavier played really well the last 10 minutes,’’ said Jets assistant coach Ryan Mahoney.

 “He was the reason everybody else got going. He made some plays offensively going to the rim and he got some deflections. The last 10 minutes was a real team effort.’’

Dalen Qualls was the other Jet in double figures with 16 points.

“Dalen made some shots early for us,’’ Mahoney said. “He made some plays in the second half. He started going to the rim. He needs to expand his game like that.’’

The Jets “didn’t have much energy’’ to start the game, “but we got better as the game went on,’’ Mahoney said.

The Jets, with nine minutes remaining, went on a stretch which netted them a double-digit lead and were never seriously threatened after that.

The win allowed the Jets to remain second in the conference. They were coming off a heartbreaking 64-62 loss at league-leading Eastern Thursday.

“It’s always good to bounce back like that,’’ Mahoney said. “We just have to get back on a winning streak. We had to be road warriors and show some mental toughness at Western Monday.’’

NOC Enid’s men and women will be back home Thursday for the Jets’ homecoming game with Connors.