Title Run

LADY MUSTANGS BEAT NEVADA FOR CHAMPIONSHIP OF CARL JUNCTION TOURNEY

RICK PECK MCDONALD COUNTY PRESS Coley Ickes goes to the left hand for two of her 18 points in McDonald County’s 43-29 win over Carl Junction in the semifinals of the Freeman Sports Medicine CJ Classic held last week at Carl Junction High School.
RICK PECK MCDONALD COUNTY PRESS Coley Ickes goes to the left hand for two of her 18 points in McDonald County’s 43-29 win over Carl Junction in the semifinals of the Freeman Sports Medicine CJ Classic held last week at Carl Junction High School.

For the first time since 2005, the McDonald County Lady Mustangs can be called tournament champs.

The Lady Mustangs defeated Nevada 39-26 Saturday afternoon in the title game of the Freeman Sports Medicine CJ Classic at Carl Junction High School. McDonald County's most recent title previously was at the Tri-State Classic in Jay, Okla.

"First of all, Nevada is a very good basketball team," said Blake Short, second-year coach of the Lady Mustangs. "They jumped on us early, but once we settled down and hit three big three pointers in a row, our defense took over and our offense did a good job of staying patient and getting what we wanted."

McDonald County got off to a slow start as Nevada jumped out to an early 10-4 lead, scoring six consecutive points to break a 4-4 tie. But a pair of three pointers by Coley Ickes and one by Preslea Reece put the Lady Mustangs on top 13-10 at the end of the first quarter, a lead McDonald County would never relinquish.

Nevada stayed close throughout the second quarter, cutting a five-point Lady Mustang lead to two points before Cendy Garcia scored the final basket of the first half to give McDonald County a 21-17 lead at intermission.

McDonald County led 28-22 midway through the third quarter when the Lady Mustangs went on a 7-0 run to close out the period. Reece's basket to open the fourth quarter put McDonald County ahead 37-22 and the Lady Mustangs were not threatened in the final eight minutes.

"On the defensive end, everybody played their role and worked together which made it extremely difficult for them to score," Short said. "We are so long and athletic we are tough to pass around and the girls are really working together to create a really good defense. They are doing the little things really well right now."

Reece scored 15 points, grabbed five rebounds and had five steals while Ickes finished with nine points, four assists and two steals to lead McDonald County. The two were all-tournament selections along with Brenlee McPherson, of Carl Junction, Maya Williams, of Carthage and Morgan McNeley, Rilie Good and Mikayka Bartlett, all of Nevada. Ickes was also named the tournament MVP.

"We had several girls who could have been on the all tournament team," Short said. "I'm very pleased with where we are right now and this is just another step in our path to reaching our goals."

Rounding out the scoring for McDonald County were Baili Nelson with six points, Garcia five and Dakota Bunch and Cheyenne Greenup with two each. Nelson also chipped in with five rebounds.

Nevada was led by Bartlett with 19 points while all-tournament selections McNeley and Good were held to Good's two points.

The Lady Mustangs are now 5-0, 1-0 in the Big 8 Conference, heading into tonight's key conference matchup against Aurora at McDonald County High School. Games begin at 6 p.m. with the junior varsity to be followed by the varsity.

Carl Junction

Ickes scored 18 points and dished out four assists while Reece had 1o points and 10 rebounds to lead McDonald County to a 43-29 win over Carl Junction in the Dec. 4 semifinals.

McDonald County built a 14-10 lead after the first quarter, with the final three points coming by a trey by Ickes at the buzzer. The Lady Bulldogs closed to within a point twice in the second period before McDonald County closed out the first half by scoring the final seven points, including Ickes' second three-pointer at the buzzer to end the period.

Carl Junction cut a nine-point lead to 31-26 midway through the third quarter, but the Lady Mustangs stretched the margin to 37-26 entering the fourth quarter. Rounding out the scoring for McDonald County were Greenup with six points, Bunch with five and Garcia and Nelson two each.

Emma Frack led Carl Junction with 11 points.

Monett

McDonald County jumped out to a 31-4 lead after the first quarter and cruised to a 59-34 win Dec. 2 over Monett to open the tournament.

The Lady Mustangs led 44-13 at intermission before Monett used a 17-9 advantage in the third quarter to cut the margin to 53-30 entering the final period.

Reece led three Lady Mustangs in double figures with 22 points. Ickes finished with 13 while Nelson had 10. Others scoring were Abbey Dozal and Tricia Wattman with four points each, Garcia, three, Greenup two and Bunch one.

Kourtney Easter and Kailee Ticknor each scored 11 points to lead Monett.

Regular Season

McDonald County opened its Big 8 Conference schedule with a 46-38 win Monday night at Seneca. Reece scored 23 points and grabbed 10 rebounds to lead McDonald county. The senior closed to within nine points of hitting 1,000 points in her career at MCHS.

Ickes added 11 points and six assists while Nelson chipped in with eight points. Rounding out the scoring were Greenup with two points and Bunch and Garcia with one each.

Sports on 12/11/2014