SPORTS: Strafford's second, third quarters sink Mustangs

Bennett Horne/Special to the McDonald County Press
Bennett Horne/Special to the McDonald County Press

ANDERSON -- McDonald County was unable to correct mistakes over the middle two quarters of its game against Strafford on Tuesday night and, as a result, dropped a 59-41 decision to the Indians at Mustang Arena.

The non-conference loss sends the Mustangs to 8-10 on the season. The win was the sixth in a row for Strafford, which improves to 13-8 with six of its losses coming at the hands of state-ranked teams.

The Mustangs raced out to a 6-0 lead on the strength of 3-pointers by Pierce Harmon and Cross Dowd only to see the Indians claw back with a 12-6 run for a 12-12 tie after the first quarter of play.

The Indians then asserted themselves with a 16-9 second quarter and 11-7 third to take control of the game.

"We talked at halftime how we needed to rebound better and cut off the baseline," said McDonald County coach Brandon Joines, "and then in the third quarter we still were struggling with those same exact things."

The Mustangs also struggled on offense, something Indians' coach Tyler Ryerson credited to his team's ability to turn up the tempo over the course of those middle two stanzas.

"We played eight (players) and I think they only played six or seven up until that point, so we knew if we could get the tempo going, they would start to get tired, and when you start to get tired you generally don't shoot it as well."

McDonald County's struggles from behind the 3-point arc and missed rebound opportunities underneath fueled Strafford's momentum.

"The main thing is that we struggled to score the ball," said Joines. "We settled too many times and I think we shot 5 for 23 on 3s. That's not good enough and we know that. And we have to attack the rim when our shots aren't falling. We've got to find creative ways to get people open and, if we don't do that, things are going to be very difficult at all times."

Mustang senior guard Cole Martin tried to spur the home team with three 3s in the second half but by then the Indians were able to protect their lead, which slipped into double digits at 39-28 by the close of the third quarter.

"Martin was tough," said Ryerson. "He went off in the second half and had three 3s. But the other kids we really guarded well."

Ryerson said, once the Indians were able to get a good rotation going with their inside size, they were better able to handle McDonald County post Eli McClain, who hit four field goals and two of three free throws for 10 points in the first half before being held to only two points the rest of the game.

"We gave shorter rotations to our bigs," said Ryerson. "They were playing one big -- and he's a heck of a player -- but in the first half we were leaving our bigs in there for longer periods of time and we started to get tired. In the second half, we started rotating them in a lot quicker so that we had fresh bodies guarding (McClain) and that helped."

Strafford controlled the boards, but Joines said it wasn't just because of the Indians' size.

"They did, but rebounding is all about hustle and effort and we weren't matching their hustle and intensity level for a long time," he said. "Then we got careless with the ball. It's stuff we just have to be better at and we know that."

Strafford, which made only two 3s in the game -- both in the first quarter -- sank 13 of 16 free throws, while the Mustangs knocked down eight of their 11 attempts.

McDonald County is scheduled to host East Newton Friday night while setting its sights on a strong finish to Big 8 Conference play.

"We have four conference games left," said Joines, "and our goal right now is to keep going in the conference and play our best basketball so that we can hopefully get a number on a banner."

Strafford 59, McDonald County 41

Strafford^12^16^11^20^--^59

MCHS^12^9^7^13^--^41

Strafford (13-8): Rael 15, A. Voysey 10, C. Voysey 10, Soden 8, Goings 6, Fraker 5, Hunt 3, Dowan 2.

McDonald County (9-10): McClain 12, Martin 11, Woods 7, Harmon 5, Dowd 5, Gordon 1.

McDonald County 70, Lamar 64

McDonald County got out to a big lead and held off a strong fourth-quarter charge from Lamar in a victory to move to 2-0 in Big 8 Conference play on Friday, Jan. 28.

The Mustangs led 18-11 after the first quarter and 40-19 at halftime.

McDonald County led 58-35 going into the fourth quarter, in which Lamar scored 29 points to the Mustangs' 12.

Pierce Harmon led McDonald County with 19 points, while Cross Dowd had 15, Sterling Woods 13, Eli McClain 10, Bo Leach six, Cole Martin five and Dalton McClain two.

Joel Beshore led Lamar with 23 points, including seven 3-pointers, five of which he hit in the fourth quarter. Mason Gastel added 21 points for the Tigers.

Willard 85, McDonald County 71

Willard opened up a close ballgame by outscoring McDonald County 23-9 in the third quarter on its way to a 14-point victory on Wednesday, Jan. 26, at Mustang Arena.

Willard led 29-23 after the first quarter and 49-41 at halftime.

After the third quarter, Willard led 72-50. McDonald County won the fourth quarter 21-13 to pull within 14 at the final buzzer.

Brett Hall led a balanced Tigers' scoring attack with 19 points, while Haden Brown and Gavin Davis each had 16, Cooper Wilken 15 and Trey Pulford 12.

Eli McClain led McDonald County with 16 points, while Pierce Harmon had 15, Cross Dowd 13, Cole Martin eight, Sterling Woods seven, Destyn Dowd four, Dalton McClain three, Weston Gordon three and Bo Leach two.

  photo  KAYLNN PHILLIPS/SPECIAL TO MCDONALD COUNTY PRESS Stafford's Aston Rael shoots over McDonald County's Cole Martin during Tuesday's game at Mustang Arena.