McDonald County's girls picked up a much-needed victory on Monday night. The Lady Mustangs improved to 2-0 in Big 8 Conference play with a 54-40 win at Monett.
It was the first conference game since McDonald County beat East Newton on Dec. 6. The Lady Mustangs improved to 3-12 overall.
"We're in a good spot," said head coach Sean Crane.
The Lady Mustangs cashed in several second-chance points on the evening, including three putback baskets in the first quarter alone.
Addy Leach had a pair of those stick backs and Samara Smith had another.
Megan Elwood opened the game with a jump shot for the Lady Mustangs before Leach converted a three-point play on a stick back to tie the game at 5-5.
Leach's second putback put the Lady Mustangs ahead 9-8 and they went up 11-8 after a deep field goal from Anna Clarkson, who was on her way to a big night.
"Clarkson played really, really well," Crane said. "We hope it was her coming-out party."
Another basket from Smith gave the Lady Mustangs a 13-8 lead, but Monett answered with a 6-0 run to take a 14-13 lead.
Elwood scored again before the first quarter ended to put McDonald County back in front, 15-14.
The second quarter belonged solely to the Lady Mustangs.
McDonald County outscored Monett 16-5 in the second to take a 31-19 lead at halftime and would never trail again.
Leach opened the quarter with a basket inside and Clarkson hit a 3-pointer at the top of the key to go up 20-14.
Nevaeh Dodson hit a jump shot and Smith followed with a touch shot off the glass to go up 24-14.
Clarkson scored again for a 26-14 lead and Reagan Myrick found the scoring column to go up 28-15.
Carlee Cooper added a 3-pointer before half as the Lady Mustangs went up 31-15. Monett (4-13) closed the first half on a 4-0 run to make it 31-19.
McDonald County increased its margin to 14 after outscoring Monett 10-8 in the third. Myrick, Corina Holland and Cooper all had baskets and Clarkson hit another 3-pointer as the Lady Mustangs took a 41-27 lead.
They would increase that margin to as high as 17 in the fourth quarter.
Clarkson finished with 15 points to lead McDonald County.
"She's going to be a really good player for us," Crane said of Clarkson. "She's come a long way. She's a girl who wasn't on our varsity roster (last year). She didn't even play a ton of JV. Now she's getting big-time varsity minutes. She's put in a lot of work to do that. We need guards that can score."
Leach added 11 points for the Lady Mustangs, while Smith had nine.
"Addy's a consistently good player," Crane said. "We have two really good post players in Addy and Samara. We've got to get our guard play equal to both of them and then good things are going to happen."
Cooper finished with five points for McDonald County, while Elwood, Dodson and Myrick each had four and Holland two.
Aryanna Seelye and Sadie Camp each scored 11 points to lead Monett, while Allyson Inman had 10.
Crane thought the Lady Mustangs rebounded well but he wasn't pleased with the defense on the night.
"We have to defend better," he said. "We let them get too many easy buckets."
McDonald County is now off until Tuesday when it welcomes Cassville to town for another Big 8 matchup. The Lady Mustangs will then host Neosho on Jan. 27 for another league tilt.
"Those (games) are both at home and we need them," Crane said.
GRAHAM THOMAS/MCDONALD COUNTY PRESS McDonald County girls coach Sean Crane gives instructions during a timeout in a game against Carthage on Jan. 6. McDonald County picked up a 54-40 win at Monett on Monday to improve to 2-0 in Big 8 Conference play.