The McDonald County Lady Mustangs overcame a 7-3 deficit midway through the second quarter to pull out an 8-7 win over El Dorado Springs for their only win in six quarters at a jamboree held Nov. 20 at Webb City High School.
McDonald County opened the jamboree by falling 8-2 and 9-4 to Mount Vernon before closing out the scrimmages with 15-2 and 10-0 losses to Webb City.
"Mount Vernon is extremely improved from last year," coach Blake Short said. "They outworked us, but we did some good things. We are going to have to take care of the ball a little better. We got some good looks at the basket, but they didn't fall. We played OK other than that.
"Defensively, we did all right, but we have a lot to clean up."
El Dorado Springs defeated McDonald County 11-6 in the first quarter before the Lady Mustangs rallied from a four-point deficit midway through the second period for an 8-7 win. Cloee Helm hit a free throw and Baili Nelson a short jumper before Caitlyn Sedillos hit a pair of free throws to secure the win.
Dakota Bunch led a balanced attack with four points. Rounding out the scoring were Sedillos, Nelson, Madison Mitchell and Cheyenne Greenup with two each and Tricia Wattman and Helm with one each.
"We started doing better things in the second quarter against El Dorado Springs," Short said. "We just have to play hard. This is a group that is going to have to rebound well, play hard and defend well if we are going to be successful."
Nelson scored the first basket of the first period against Webb City, but the Lady Cardinals then ran off 25 consecutive points over the course of the two periods to close out the jamboree.
McDonald County hosted Gravette on Nov. 23 before taking on Nevada at 7:30 p.m. Monday, Nov. 30 in the first round of the CJ Classic Girls Basketball Tournament at Carl Junction High School.
Sports on 11/26/2015