The McDonald County High School girls' basketball team split a pair of games last week against a pair of teams from the East Division of the Big 8 Conference.
The Lady Mustangs claimed a 43-37 win over Springfield Catholic on Feb. 19 in the Big 8 crossover game.
McDonald County jumped out to a 13-9 lead at the end of the first quarter.
Catholic tied the game 18-18 at halftime by outscoring McDonald County 9-5 in the second quarter.
Both teams struggled offensively in the third quarter, with McDonald County taking a 24-22 lead into the fourth quarter.
In the fourth quarter, Samara Smith scored nine points and Rita Santillan scored eight to lead the Lady Mustangs to the win.
Smith finished with 15 points and Santillan 11 to lead McDonald County. Rounding out the scoring for the Lady Mustangs were Kristin Penn with eight points, Ragan Wilson with three and Caitlyn Barton, Sydney Killion and Jaylie Sanny two each.
McDonald County made it a sweep with a 37-23 win in the junior varsity game.
McDonald County trailed 8-5 at the end of the first quarter and 25-17 at halftime before outscoring the Lady Irish 20-6 in the second half.
Addy Leach scored 13 points and Kloe Myers had 10 to lead McDonald County, followed by Smith with seven, Megan Elwood with three and Sosha Howard and Ebenee Munoz two each.
Mount Vernon
Mount Vernon claimed a 57-45 win over McDonald County on Feb. 20 at Mount Vernon High School.
The Lady Mountaineers built a 26-18 lead at halftime and led 40-30 after three quarters.
Penn scored 12 points and Smith added 10 to lead McDonald County. Rounding out the scoring for the Lady Mustangs were Barton with seven points and Killion, Santillan, Ragan Wilson and Laney Wilson with four each.
Mount Vernon added a 39-29 win in the junior varsity game.
Abby Wiseman led the Lady Mustangs with eight points, followed by Leach, Myers and Munoz with six each, Smith two and Elwood one.
McDonald County, 9-14 for the season, closed out its regular season against Joplin on Feb. 25 and at Carl Junction on Feb. 27. The Lady Mustangs begin Missouri Class 4 District 12, play at 2:30 p.m. on Saturday, Feb. 29, against Monett at Monett High School.
Sports on 02/27/2020