CHICKASHA — MIDWEST CITY —It was definitely a night the Fightin' Chicks would like to forget, but Chickasha will likely long remember the Titans after experiencing a third quarter collapse Tuesday.

Carl Albert's third quarter performance made all the difference in a 71-38 loss to the Titans Tuesday night at the Carl Albert Fieldhouse.

Chickasha came out like a team ready to take the Class 5A 15th-ranked Titans (3-3 overall, 2-1 in the Suburban Conference) to the wire, then entered a mid-game slump, allowing the host to go full throttle with the tempo. And in that third set of eight minutes, Chickasha was outscored 30-6.

Chase Rodgers led the Fightin' Chicks (3-5, 1-3) again, netting 12 points in this outing.

Chickasha led by three points on three occasions in the opening quarter.   

A 3-point basket by Austin McRay put the purple-clad visitors on top 5-2 and an exchange of baskets followed.  

But Carl Albert, led by Antonio Marshall's 14-point effort, took its lead on a basket by its scoring leader with 1:18 left in the first period.

Rodgers scored four seconds later at the glass after taking a pass from McRay, giving Chickasha what would be its last lead of the night at 11-10. Marshall would score again before the first quarter closed, but it began a 9-0 run. A trey from Jared Price followed and opened things up for the Titans.

A 3-point dish by Jacobi Davis brought the Chicks to within five points. CA then added seven more points to make it 28-16 at halftime.

"The first quarter was okay," Chickasha coach Bryan Merritt said. "We weren't making some plays and then they kept spreading us up, playing a lot of guys and pretty much took it out of our of our hands. It kind of got into a real fast game, where you just got to go make plays, and we weren't making any."

The host began its third-period domination by adding two more baskets. Joey Sylvester got Chickasha's next field goal, then came a 15-2 spurt and it was 47-20. The Titans often forced turnovers via steals and were quick on both ends of the boards, scoring on second-chance shots. CA also benefitted from Chickasha fouls, converting often from the free throw line.

The score was 58-22 as the third ended.

"In the third quarter, we weren't tough at all," Merritt said. "We just let them do whatever they wanted inside."

CA didn't stop there either. It made the first two baskets on a pair of fastbreaks.

The Chicks got back into a scoring routine with a 6-0 run, but the outcome was already inevitable.

The largest margin was 39 points, which came twice late in the game. After a basket by the Titans' Bo Bradshaw brought the score to 68-29,  the Chicks got three treys, respectively from Rodgers, T.J. Filer and E.J. Golightly to trim the deficit to its final 33-point differential.

"In the second half, we didn't compete well," Merritt said. "In the first half, we competed okay, we just didn't play smart. Execution-wise, we didn't play very good. But the third quarter, we didn't compete at all. 30 points is a lot, but it doesn't surprise me because we didn't compete."

The Fightin' Chicks move on to meet Altus in the first round of their own Chickasha Bank & Trust Basketball Classic at 1 p.m. Thursday



Girls

Carl Albert 50,

Chickasha 21

The Lady Chicks started off well and led 3-2 early, but a 7-0 run jettisoned Carl Albert.

Chickasha (2-6 overall, 3-3 in the Suburban Conference) went through phases of playing solid defense, but struggled to get the ball through the net.

"We knew this was going to be a tough basketball for us," Chickasha coach Christy Edelen said. "Carl Albert is one of the top teams in 5A year in and year out. Coming here and playing after having three and a half weeks off, that is tough. Overall, I was really happy that we were still in the ball game at halftime."

The Lady Titans (3-3, 2-1) were in front 26-12 at halftime and outscored the Lady Chicks 24-9 in the second half.

Sierra Hamilton led the Lady Chicks with 10 points.

Toni Cheadle and Gioya Carter led Carl Albert with 16 and 11 points respectively.

"We struggled offensively, but defensively, I thought we stepped up, " Edelen said. "We got to finish our defense better with rebounds, but I do think we're going to be okay. We just got to work on our offense, but that's going to come."

The Lady Chicks take on Douglass  in the first round of their own Chickasha Bank & Trust Basketball Classic at 11:30 a.m. Thursday. It will be a rematch of their 55-43 loss to the Lady Trojans last month in the second round of the Millwood Tournament in Oklahoma City.