By Kenton Brooks

Phoenix Sports Writer



WARNER — Every coach wonders how his team will respond after a loss. Connors State’s Bill Muse is no different.

The Cowboys were coming off their first loss of the season to Redlands College last week and they bounced back impressively in beating Northern of Tonkawa 70-53 in a Region II game at Melvin Self Field House on Monday night.

“I thought we did extremely well. I’m pleased,” Muse said. “We executed well.”

Stephon Weaver particularly executed well for the Cowboys as the 6-foot-3 sophomore from Forest City, Ark., helped a 14-0 run in the first half that lifted Connors from a 12-9 deficit with 13:09 left to a 23-12 lead with 8:15 remaining.

Weaver also had 13 second-half points to finish with a game-high 19 points.

“He was the best player on the court,” Muse said.

Orlando Brown, the 6-1 freshman from Stringtown, got the crowd excited with his driving layup during the 14-0 run and later when he made back-to-back 3-point baskets. He ended up with 13 points.

“Orlando gave us a huge lift,” Muse said. “He had a really good first half.”

Connors, improving to 6-1 for the season, led 38-25 at halftime.

Connors’ men play at Northern-Enid at 8 p.m. Thursday and at Arkansas Baptist at 4 p.m. on Saturday. The Cowgirls face Bacone College junior varsity at 7 p.m. on Wednesday and then they play at the University of Arkansas-Fort Smith Classic at 5:30 p.m. on Friday and at noon on Saturday.

The next home game for Connors men and women is next Monday against Western as the women play at 6 p.m. and the men at 8 p.m.

Connors women 89, Northern-Tonkawa 59

The Cowboys (8-0) used a strong defense to hold down the Lady Mavericks (1-8). Connors held the Lady Mavs to 34 points in the first 30 minutes of the game.

“If we can get that type of production out of our defense, we’ll be all right down the stretch this season,” Connors coach Eddie Kite said.

Offensively, the Cowgirls weren’t too bad either as three players scored 21 or more points and led by Gabrielle Rosiji’s 24. Ashleigh Franklin and Kameisha Johnson added 21 each.

Franklin filled the basket with 15 points in the second half. Johnson had 13 in the first half — 10 of which came at the free throw line and Rosiji had 11 points in the first 20 minutes and 13 in the second half.

Korie Hargus led Northern-Tonkawa with 21 points — 15 in the second half — and Erin Rousch added 12.

Connors led 41-27 at halftime.