After an opening-round loss in the CJ Classic Girls Basketball Tournament in their first game of the season, the McDonald County Lady Mustangs rebounded with wins over Nevada and Seneca to win consolation honors.
Against Seneca in the consolation finals, McDonald County outscored the Lady, 13-8, in the fourth quarter to pull away for a 37-30 win.
The Lady Mustangs led 21-16 at halftime before Seneca held McDonald County to three points to cut the lead to 24-22 entering the fourth quarter.
Samara Smith led a balanced scoring attack with 12 points, followed by Caitlyn Barton with five points, Sydney Killion, Megan Elwood, Carlie Cooper and Kristin Penn all with four, Adasyn Leach with three and Reagan Myrick with one.
"We found a way to win," said coach Sean Crane. "Defensively, we were good but we could not score. We missed so many easy shots but, like I said, we found a way to win. It was a great week for us to go 2-1 with everything we have been going through, we couldn't ask for a better week. The girls did a great job battling and overcoming our poor shooting."
The Lady Mustangs advanced to the consolation finals with a 39-33 overtime win against Big 8 Conference rival Nevada.
McDonald County led 27-22 entering the fourth quarter before Nevada cut the lead to 27-24 early in the period. Barton then scored six straight points, including four off of offensive rebounds, to help McDonald County take a 33-27 lead with 2:03 left in the game.
But Nevada scored six straight points to tie the game at 33-33 with 40 seconds left in regulation.
McDonald County missed a free throw with a half-minute left, but the Lady Mustangs forced a turnover with 7.9 seconds left to get one more chance in regulation.
However, McDonald County missed a short jumper for the win and then was called for a foul on the rebound, giving the Lady Tigers a chance for the win. But Nevada missed the free throw with 0.02 seconds left, sending the game to overtime,
Smith hit a short jumper and Killion followed with a pair of free throws to open the four-minute overtime session to give McDonald County a 37-33 lead with 1:27 left.
Killion then made two more free throws with 1:21 left to seal the win.
Nevada led 11-5 after the first quarter and maintained a five-point lead midway through the second quarter before McDonald County cut the lead to 20-18 at intermission.
McDonald County seemingly took control of the game in the third quarter, holding the Lady Tigers to just two points in the period while scoring 12 to take a 27-22 into the fourth quarter.
Killion finished with 10 points and Leach had nine to lead McDonald County. Rounding out the scoring for the Lady Mustangs were Barton with six points, Penn five, Smith four, Myrick three and Cooper two.
Cassville
The Cassville Lady Wildcats claimed a 45-35 win over McDonald County on Dec. 7 at Cassville High School.
McDonald County jumped out to a 13-6 lead midway through the first period behind three three-pointers by Killion, but Cassville closed out the period with eight straight points for a 14-13 lead at the end of the period.
Cassville took a 25-19 lead into the locker room at halftime, but McDonald County outscored Cassville 12-9 in the third quarter to cut the margin to 34-31 entering the final period.
Cassville scored the first seven points of the fourth quarter while holding the Lady Mustangs scoreless until Barton scored with 3:49 left in the game to make the score 41-33. The only other basket Cassville allowed in the fourth quarter was a jumper by Katelyn Townsend with a minute to go.
Killion finished with 13 points to lead McDonald County, followed by Barton with six points, Penn with five, Ebenee Munoz three and Townsend, Cooper, Smith and Abigail Wiseman two each.
McDonald County, 2-2 overall and 0-1 in the West Division of the Big 8 Conference, began play in the Lady Eagle Classic in Joplin on Dec. 9. McDonald County wraps up the tournament on Dec. 11 and Dec. 12 with opponents and times to be determined.
The McDonald County junior varsity claimed a 39-31 win over Cassville behind 15 points from Megan Elwood. Rounding out the scoring for the Lady Mustangs were Wiseman with eight points, and Townsend, Munoz, Nevaeh Dodson and Kloe Myers with four each.
McDonald County added a 20-17 win in the freshman game. Anna Clarkson led McDonald County with 10 points, followed by Corina Holland with four points and Kylan Sherman, Grace Walthall and Analisa Ramirez with two each.
