MULHALL, Okla. — Offensive rebounding helped the Mulhall-Orlando Lady Panthers defeat the Carney Lady Bulldogs 55-32 Friday at Mulhall-Orlando Elementary School.

“The third quarter made the difference,” Mulhall-Orlando coach Joline Oldenburg said. “We held them scoreless until the last two minutes of the quarter. We had over 20 offensive rebounds.”

The Lady Panthers (3-14) entered the third quarter with the game tied at 19 but quickly seized control. Field goals by Karisa Pfeiffer, Kallie Jerome, Mickala Gorrell and Brittany Blankinship pushed Mulhall-Orlando’s lead to eight. Carney wouldn’t score until Shelby Hover made a free throw with 1:11 left. Carney coach Connie Davis said the third quarter hurt.

“We weren’t blocking out and didn’t do what we did in the first half,” Davis said.

Mulhall-Orlando led 40-22 after the third quarter and didn’t allow a fourth quarter comeback as they went on a 9-0 run. Blankinship led the Lady Panthers with 13 points, all in the second half. Rhett Boyd followed with 11 points.

Carney was led by Kaitlyn Bailey, who led all scorers with 18 points. The Bulldogs close the regular season with Agra on Tuesday. Davis said despite the loss she was pleased with the effort.

“The girls keep working hard and pushing,” Davis said. “We are young and have had so many injuries. We are so little but have a lot of fight.”

The Lady Panthers end the regular season at Ripley on Tuesday. Mulhall-Orlando starts play in the district tournament on Saturday against Wesleyan Christian in Mulhall.

“It’s a winnable game for us if we play four quarters,” Oldenburg said.

Mulhall-Orlando boys 70, Carney 44

The Mulhall-Orlando Panthers made several trips to the free-throw line in the second quarter and made the most of them in a 70-44 victory over the Carney Bulldogs.

“They had 27 free throws to our 14,” Carney coach Taylor Brinker said. “That was the difference in the game.”

The Panthers (18-7) led 12-11 after the first quarter with most of their scoring coming on second chance buckets. In the second quarter, 18 of their 27 points came at the free throw line. Ryon Boatright made most of those trips converting on 9 of 14 attempts.

“Boatright has a tremendous ability to finish,” Mulhall-Orlando coach Alex Beene said. “He’s a great rebounder and has long arms.”

Mulhall-Orlando’s offense didn’t slow down in the third quarter as it outscored Carney 23-10. The Panthers used a trap defense which generated a lot of turnovers and second chance buckets.

“We came out flat to start the game,” Beene said. “We got our energy back and pressed well and caused havoc.”

Brinker said getting into foul trouble really limited his team.

“The effort could have been there if we weren’t taken out of the game,” Brinker said. “We got into foul trouble. It’s tough to play good defense when you are scared to move.”

The Bulldogs (1-15) had two players foul out in the fourth quarter. Dalton Graham led the team in scoring with 10 points. Hadley Bryan led all scorers with 24 points. Boatright contributed 22 points.