After trailing 9-7 at the end of the first quarter, the Seneca Lady Indians scored the final five points of the first half for a 21-17 lead at intermission and then steadily pulled away in the second half for a 44-31 win over McDonald County on Jan. 11 at MCHS.
"In the second quarter we were up and then had five consecutive possessions where we turned it over and didn't get a shot," said coach Chris Kennedy. "We had their best player setting down with three fouls, and we have to be able to take advantage of that and put the ball in the basket. We were in the one-and-one, but we turned it over and never got to the line."
Kristin Penn scored the first five points of the second half to put the Lady Mustangs up 22-21, but Seneca's Chaney Platner hit a pair of treys to help the Lady Indians rebound for a 33-24 lead entering the fourth quarter.
"We hit a dry spell in the third quarter," Kennedy said. "Our shot selection has to get better. We need to be a bit more patient against good teams, and Seneca is a good team. Coaches say they play mean, and they killed us on the boards. They dominated on the inside and just knocked us around and rebounded it on both ends of the floor."
Seneca's Mekaylee Beard hit four free throws to open the fourth quarter to give the Lady Indians a 37-24 lead before Alexia Estrada hit a trey for the Lady Mustangs to cut the margin to 37-27 with 4:50 left, but Seneca outscored McDonald County 7-4 down the stretch to secure the win.
Penn finished with 12 points to lead McDonald County, followed by Addy Mick and Alexia Kitlen with four each, Sam Frazier and Estrada three each, Ragan Wilson two and Rita Santillan, Laney Wilson and Mattie Leach one each.
Beard finished with 15 to lead Seneca.
McDonald County claimed a 34-8 win in the junior varsity game. Laney Wilson and Mollie Milleson scored six points each to lead a balanced scoring attack. Lily Allman, Kloe Myers, Caitlyn Barton and Mick added four points each, while Ebenee Munoz, Sydney Killion and Estrada had two each.
In the freshman game, McDonald County jumped out to a 9-3 lead at the end of the first quarter and went on to post a 32-24 win.
Abby Wiseman scored 19 points to lead McDonald County, followed by Myers with eight points, Adasyn Leach and Madison Grider two each and Munoz one.
McDonald County falls to 3-9 entering its Jan. 14 game against Monett at MCHS. The Lady Mustangs travel to East Newton on Jan. 17. Games begin at 6 p.m.
Sports on 01/17/2019