The Neosho Lady Wildcats were held scoreless for the first five minutes of the game but overcame their slow start on the way to a 48-26 win Friday night over McDonald County to spoil the Lady Mustangs 2016 homecoming.
"We started out really well, but we just made some mental mistakes that really cost us," said coach Blake Short. "We did some good things on both sides of the ball, but Neosho is a good team and they played well."
McDonald County gave a standing-room-only crowd something to cheer about when the Lady Mustangs took a 4-0 lead on baskets by Tricia Wattman and Baili Nelson to open the game. Neosho finally got on the scoreboard with a free throw by Caitlyn Jordan with 2:53 left in the first quarter.
The Lady Wildcats took the lead on a basket by Sydney Linny at the 2:06 mark as part of a 9-2 run for a 9-6 lead at the end of the first quarter.
Neosho continued its run to start the second quarter, scoring 11 consecutive points for a 20-6 lead before Wattman hit a free throw late in the period to stop the bleeding for the Lady Mustangs. Nelson followed with a three-pointer and Dakota Bunch hit one of two free throws before Neosho's Makayla Hayes scored at the end of the first half to give Neosho a 22-11 lead at halftime.
Neosho opened the third quarter with an 8-0 run to stretch the lead to 30-11 on the way to a 35-18 advantage after three quarters.
Nelson finished with seven points and Bunch six to lead the McDonald County. Rounding out the scoring for the Lady Mustangs were Madison Mitchell with four points and Cloee Helm, Kelsey Thornton and Wattman with three points each.
Jordan finished with 11 points and Allison Burr had 10 to lead Neosho.
McDonald County falls to 3-16 heading into next week's Seneca Tournament. The Lady Mustangs began play Tuesday against Willard. McDonald County continues pool play at 7:30 p.m. on Feb. 5 against Aurora. The finals are set for Feb. 6 beginning with the fifth place game at 3 p.m.
McDonald County claimed a dramatic 28-26 win in the junior varsity game. The teams were tied at 26-26 with Neosho holding for the last shot when McDonald County's Samantha Frazier stole a cross-court pass and drove the length of the floor for a layup to narrowly beat the final buzzer.
Neosho led 10-7 at the end of the first quarter, but McDonald County came back to take a 20-13 lead at intermission. Neosho closed to within one at the end of three quarters by outscoring the Lady Mustangs 6-0 in the period.
Caitlyn Sedillos scored six points for the Lady Mustangs followed by Kylie Helm with five points, Mattie Leach and Jordan Witt with four each, Megan Mills three and Frazier and Mitchell two each.
Monett
McDonald County picked up its third win of the season with a 49-29 win over Monett on Jan. 28 at MCHS.
The Lady Mustangs scored the game's first eight points on the way to taking a 13-4 lead at the end of the first quarter. McDonald County stretched the margin to 20-6 early in the second period, but Monett went on a 6-0 run to cut the lead to 20-12 before McDonald County closed out the quarter with a 7-0 spurt to lead 27-12 at halftime.
Monett closed to within 10 points late in the third quarter, but Sedillos scored at the end of the third period and Nelson scored six quick points to start the fourth quarter as part of a 12-0 run to help the Lady Mustangs put the game out of reach.
"It's been a long stretch since we had a win and it is nice to get one," Short said. "We beat them earlier this year, but Monett is playing better. We played well. We never had as many turnovers and we knocked down some shots. I thought it was maybe our best game of the year overall as far as rebounding, playing defense, causing turnovers and making good decisions. The girls just need some confidence and hopefully this gets them going strong to finish the year."
Nelson scored 12 points and Wattman had 10 while Bunch and Sedillos had eight each to lead a balanced McDonald County scoring attack. Rounding out the scoring for the Lady Mustangs were Helm with five points, Madison Hall with four and Mitchell with two.
Annie Besch scored 12 points to lead the Lady Cubs.
The McDonald County junior varsity claimed a 21-14 win. The teams were tied at 10-10 at halftime before the Lady Mustangs outscored Monett 11-4 in the second half for the victory.
Scoring for McDonald County was as follows: Witt with eight points, Mitchell six, Sedillos three, Kylie Helm and Kenzie Stephens two each.
The McDonald County freshmen opened the night with a 27-19 win over Joplin. The Lady Mustangs stretched an 11-7 halftime lead to 20-9 at the end of three quarters to claim the win.
Frazier led McDonald County with 11 points followed by Leach with eight points, Kylie Helm seven and Alexia Kitlen one.
Webb City
Webb City claimed a 53-23 win over the Lady Mustangs on Jan. 26 at Webb City High School. The Lady Cardinals led 14-3 at the end of the first period and stretched the margin to 26-12 at halftime and to 38-17 entering the fourth quarter.
Thornton hit three treys for nine points to lead McDonald County. Rounding out the scoring for the Lady Mustangs were Bunch with seven points, Nelson five and Sedillos two.
Webb City added a 53-21 win in the junior varsity game. McDonald County's scoring was as follows: Mills 10 points, Witt six, Sedillos and Frazier two each and Aspen Bowman one.
Sports on 02/04/2016