The McDonald County seventh grade girls basketball team defeated Seneca 31-11 Nov. 1 to claim third place in the Triway Junior High Girls Basketball Tournament.

McDonald County jumped out to a 13-2 lead at the end of the first quarter and led 18-9 at half time before stretching the margin to 25-11 after three quarters.

The Lady Mustangs were led by Madison Hall with nine points and Cloee Helm with eight. Rounding out the scoring were Miranda Dilday and Makenzie Stephens with four each, Valerie Garcia and Jordan Witt two each and Aspen Bowman and Maranda Weaver one.

Hall and Dilday added four rebounds and Helm recorded 10 steals.

McDonald County opened the tourney with a 22-5 win over Monett. Hall and Stephens led McDonald County with six points each while Bailey Scott had four and Bowman, Weaver and Garcia had two each.

Triway handed McDonald County a 26-23 loss in the semifinals. Triway took a 17-5 lead at halftime before McDonald used a 10-4 advantage to close to 21-15 entering the fi nal period.

Helm had seven points while Hall, Stephens and Dilday added four each and Jessica Cortez had two.

Sports, Pages 14 on 11/08/2012