The McDonald County High School girls basketball team built a 35-25 lead late in the fourth quarter only to see Webb City outscore the Lady Mustangs 27-9 the rest of the way, including a 24-9 edge in the fourth quarter to pull out a 52-44 win.
The Lady Cardinals closed out the final minute of the third quarter to close to 35-28 entering the fourth. Webb City opened the quarter with three straight points before Kristin Penn hit a basket for McDonald County to give the Lady Mustangs a 37-31 lead.
Webb City closed to 37-36 on a three-pointer by Jaydee Duda and a layup by Kenziue Robbins with 4:40 left and then took the lead for good on a short jumper by Duda. The Lady Cardinals went on to score 11 more straight points to push its run to 18 consecutive points and a 49-37 lead before Ragan Wilson hit a layup to end the run.
Jaylie Sanny hit a two and Alexia Estrada added a three at the buzzer, while Webb City hit three of four free throws in the final minute to seal the win.
"We played three good quarters and got through some foul trouble before the start of the fourth," said coach Chris Kennedy. "I think we were a little bit antsy to do something coming off the bench. When we did that, we kind of got out of our offense and they capitalized on the other end. I told the girls we have to put four quarters together. If we can do that, I think we can play right with them. We will have a neutral court the next time we probably play them (district tournament) so that's what we will be looking for."
Rita Santillan and Sanny each hit a basket and Penn hit two more to give McDonald County an 8-0 lead to start the game.
Webb City rallied to take a 10-9 lead late in the period, but the Lady Mustangs answered with a 6-2 advantage to take a 15-12 lead at the end of the quarter.
After Duda hit a free throw to start the second quarter, Sanny and Wilson scored to give McDonald County a 19-13 lead.
Webb City closed to 19-18 late in the quarter, but McDonald County closed out the half with an 8-3 run to take a 27-21 lead at intermission.
Laney Wilson hit two short jumpers and Penn and Sanny added baskets to help the Lady Mustangs build its 35-25 lead in the third quarter only to see Webb City take control for the rest of the way.
Penn finished with 11 points and Sanny 10 to lead McDonald County. Laney Wilson added eight points, followed by Ragan Wilson and Rita Santillan with five each, Estrada three and Sydney Killion two.
Duda led Webb City with 16 points.
McDonald County falls to 3-4 for the season heading into its Dec. 19 game against Carthage.
The Lady Mustangs are then off until Jan. 4 when they travel to El Dorado Springs.
Junior Varsity
After an 8-8 tie at the end of the first quarter, Webb City outscored McDonald County 34-13 over the final three quarters for a 42-21 win.
McDonald County was led by Kloe Myers with six points, followed by Megan Elwood and Abby Wiseman with four each, Misty Sohse, Addy Leach and Samara Smith two each and Analisa Ramirez one.
Sports on 12/26/2019