Bethel got off to a sizzling start and Ada couldn’t ever climb out of an early hole in a 53-37 loss to the Lady Wildcats Thursday night in the semifinals of the 45th Annual Bertha Frank Teague Mid-America Classic.

Ada, ranked No. 19 in Class 4A, dropped to 5-4 on the year and played Class 4A No. 3 Tuttle in Friday night’s third-place contest. Meanwhile Bethel — ranked No. 3 in Class 3A — improved to 8-1 and met Class A No. 2 Caddo for all the Mid-America marbles Friday night.

“I felt like my girls did a really good job of sticking to our game plan and following the scouting report for most of the night,” Bethel head coach Tara Satterfield told The Ada News. “Ada is a well-coached team and they have an outstanding point guard that’s hard to defend. I’m proud of the way our kids battled for four quarters and gave us the opportunity to play in the finals.”

Bethel’s one-two punch featuring standout senior Parker Stevenson and sophomore Josie Megehee helped Bethel build a big 21-7 first-quarter lead. Stevenson hit 5-of-7 shots in the opening frame, including 3-for-4 3-pointers, and scored 13 points. Megehee scored the other eight points on 3-of-5 shooting and a 2-of-3 effort from beyond the arc.

Ada sophomore Sanai Richardson scored all seven Ada points in the opening frame.

The Lady Cougars shot 2-of-9 (22.2%) from the field in the first period and Bethel finished 8-of-14 (57.1%).

“Parker got us going in the first quarter and our defense played really well,” Satterfield said.

Ada post player Tyley Dotson scored the first two buckets of the second quarter to trim the Bethel lead to 21-11. The Lady Cougars had several chances to get closer during a Bethel cool streak but couldn’t take advantage.

The Lady Wildcats went nearly five minutes without scoring until Megehee converted a three-point play to push the BHS lead to 27-11 at the 3:13 mark of the second quarter.

Ada got a 3-point basket by Richardson and a putback by Dotson to end the period and cut the Bethel lead to 27-18 by halftime.

The Lady Cougars clawed their way to within eight points on three separate occasions in the third quarter but couldn’t get any closer.

The Lady Wildcats led 42-29 heading into the fourth quarter and boosted their lead to as many as 18 points in the final frame.

“We had a few breakdowns on the offensive glass and gave up some put backs, but I’m proud of the way we bounced back and blocked out in the second half,” Satterfield said.

Stevenson finished with a game-high 21 points for Bethel and Megehee followed with 20. Alexis Tucker hit a pair of 3-pointers off the bench and scored eight points for the Lady Wildcats. She finished with four points, six rebounds, three assists and two steals.

Hanna Davidson did a little bit of everything for Bethel. She finished with

Richardson ended up with 19 points for Ada. She sank a pair of 3-pointers and finished 7-of-8 from the free-throw line. She also had four rebounds and two steals.

Dotson recorded a double-double for the Lady Cougars with 12 points and 12 rebounds. Jakobi Williams followed with six points to round out the Ada scoring. She also had six boards.

The Lady Wildcats scored 20 points off 12 Ada turnovers while the Lady Cougars had just five points off eight BHS miscues.