By Chuck Reherman
Sports Editor
EDMOND – The Siberian Gym at Edmond North has always been a tough place for Yukon.
It turned out that way again, especially in the second half.
No. 6 Edmond North surged past the Millerettes in the second half and rolled to a 62-36 Central Oklahoma Athletic Conference win Tuesday night in Edmond.
The Millerettes slipped to 4-10 on the season in the loss to the 11-4 Lady Huskies. YHS did hang in with the Lady Huskies through the first half and led 13-12 after one quarter.
The second half, though, the Millerettes managed only 15 points and saw North reel off 34.
“I was incredibly proud of the way our girls battled in the first half,” Millerette head coach Roy Wyckoff said. “Edmond North is ranked sixth in the state, haven beaten some really good teams and some of their losses are actually more impressive than their wins. They have one Division I signee and their big girl in the middle is probably going to play Division I also.
“I couldn’t have been prouder of our girls in the first half,” he added. “The second half, we talked about it at halftime, we had to remain disciplined. If we turn it over or force a shot Edmond North is really good in transition, they really make you pay in those situations.
“We came out turn it over, they hit a lay-up, we turn it over and they hit a another shot and what happened was we lacked a little discipline, it kind of led into here we go and they made us pay every time they had a moment. We started off down seven points and you give up seven or eight in a row and then you are down 15.
“But, give then credit, they are really good. Overall, I feel better about going to battle with our girls after tonight even though the scoreboard got a little ugly. But, I saw some fight in them and I feel better about them.”
The Millerettes trailed 28-21 starting the second half and the two turnovers and a missed shot led to three Edmond North field goals opened a 34-21 lead two minutes into the half.
Graycen Holden hit a shot in the lane and two Jasmine Linton layups opened the 13-point lead.
The Millerettes ended that streak on a free throw from Sunny Middleton, but North came back with two more transition field goals to open a 38-22 lead.
A Meya Case field goal and a transition bucket from Jaylee Watson cut the lead to 40-26. But, it would be as close as YHS would come.
Edmond North ran off six straight points to open a 20-point, 46-26 lead with 2:50 remaining.
Two more transition buckets in the opening minute of the fourth quarter opened a 54-30 lead.
“After we gave up that run, we started forcing shots,” Wyckoff said. “We felt we needed to hit get all of it back on this shot and what happened was a miss or a blocked shot and they get a run out and added to their lead.
“We are trying to teach them that the way you stop a run is you get a good possession, get a good shot and then get a stop, he said. “I don’t know if it is human nature or a maturity issue, but we felt we had to go get it back all at once.
“We are not very big, but I’ve never thought that size was the most important thing when it comes to rebounding. And gave up too many offensive rebounds because we were not disciplined in our blockouts. You have to find a way to move the girl out and then go get the ball out. We would would have two or three that didn’t do it and then had two or three others that didn’t. And, Edmond North will make you pay for every little mistake. We just had too many little mistakes and that is how it ballooned up like that.”
The Millerettes, down 6-4, took their first lead of the game on a pair of buckets from Watson off transition passes.
Sydney Brown hit a shot for an 11-9 lead and A’minuque Holmes gave the Millerettes a 13-12 lead at the end of the first on a field goal.
A Brown trey regained the lead fore YHS, 16-15, but North went on a 9-0 run to open a 24-15 lead and held a 28-21 advantage at the end of the first half.
“I was disappointed with how it ended up,” Wyckoff said. “But, talking to the coaches and to the players, we are more confident going into the stretch part of the season after they way we played the first half. It was a lot less finger pointing, we took ownership of it and hopefully it will pay off. If we can learn from it, this game doesn’t have to be tat defining of a moment and the goals have changed and we can work toward those.”
Watson led the Millerette scoring with 10 points. Case and Middleton had seven each and Brown five.
The Millerettes are playing today in the Kenl-Union Tournament final round. The team hosts Westmoore in a 6 p.m. game Friday.
