Lady Mustangs Fall After Rally
BASKETBALL SEASON ENDS WITH 3 QUARTERS OF GOOD BASKETBALL
Aurora scored 12 consecutive points midway through the first quarter then held on for their playoff life over the final three periods to survive an upset bid by the McDonald County Lady Mustangs in a 49-44 win Monday night in the opening round of the Missouri Class 4 District 10 Basketball
Tournament at McDonald County
High School.
Aurora scored 12 consecutive points midway through the first quarter then held on for their playoff life over the final three periods to survive an upset bid by the McDonald County Lady Mustangs in a 49-44 win Monday night in the opening round of the Missouri Class 4 District 10 Basketball Tournament at McDonald County High School.
The teams were tied at 5-5 early in the first period when Cheyenne Eutsler scored eight points to spark a 12- 0 run by the Lady Houns. Aurora led 19-7 at the end of the first period and scored the final four to take a 26-15 lead at halftime after the Lady Mustangs had cut the margin to seven points late in the second quarter.
“We dug ourselves a hole in the first, but we played well,” said coach Blake Short. “We really got back in the game quick and competed over the last three quarters. We went out playing our best basketball. I thought the second half was some of the best basketball we played, especially in a long time.”
In the third period, McDonald County cut the lead to 31-26 midway through the period before Aurora extended the lead to 34-26 late in the period. But the Lady Mustangs scored five straight points to cut the lead to 34- 31 before Aurora hit a free throw to end the quarter with a 35-31 edge.
Tricia Wattman scored six points early in the fourth period, including four in a row, to tie the game at 39-39 with 3:51 left, but Aurora went on a 6-2 run to take a 45-41 lead. Madison Hall hit a short jumper to cut the margin to 45-43 with just over two minutes left in the game, but Aurora outscored the Lady Mustangs 4-1 in the last two minutes to seal the win.
“The only thing that killed us was some offensive rebounding for them,” Short said. “Our initial halfcourt defense was really good, but we give up a three after an offensive rebound that killed us. It’s always rough to end the season, but at least we went out playing good basketball and had a chance.”
Wattman and Samantha Frazier each scored 10 points to lead the Lady Mustangs followed by Caitlynn Sedillos with eight points, Hall and Megan Mills five each, Kylie Helm four and Ragan Wilson two.
Eutsler finished with 18 points to lead all scorers.
McDonald County finished its season with a 7-19 record while Aurora advances to face Carl Junction in the tournament semifinals at 5:30 p.m. on Thursday, March 2.
In the tournament’s opening game, the Cassville Lady Wildcats beat Monett 46-28 to advance to the other semifinal where they will face Webb City at 4 p.m. on Thursday, March 2.
Carl Junction
Carl Junction jumped out to a 20-7 lead at the end of the first quarter and cruised to a 52-25 win over the McDonald County Lady Mustangs on Feb. 23 at MCHS.
The Lady Bulldogs led 30-11 at halftime and scored the first eight points of the third quarter to stretch the margin to 46-13 entering the fourth period.
Mills hit a pair of three pointers in the fourth quarter to lead McDonald County with six points. Rounding out the scoring for the Lady Mustangs were Hall and Wilson with five points each, Sedillos and Wattman four each and Frazier one.
Alex Vogt, a 6-1 senior, scored 21 points, including her 1,000th career
point, to lead Carl Junction.
Carl Junction claimed a 35-26 win in the junior varsity game to drop the Lady Mustangs to 14-5 for the season. Rita Santillan, Kylie Helm and Alexia Kitlen each scored six points to lead McDonald County followed by Leslie Yousey with five points, Mattie Leach two and Mills one.
Carl Junction made it a sweep with a 35-23 win in the freshman game. Santillan scored nine points to lead McDonald County followed by Grace Poland with five points, Addy Mick and Jaylie Sanny four each and Allison Nicoletti one.
Monett
Monett avenged an earlier loss to the Lady Mustangs with a 39-31 win on Feb. 21 at Monett High School.
McDonald County led 13-11 at halftime, but the Lady Cubs outscored McDonald County 13-5 in the third quarter and 15-13 in the fourth quarter to pull out the win.
Wattman scored 12 points to lead McDonald County followed by Wilson with seven points, Hall four and Sedillos, Mills, Kylie Helm and Cloee Helm two each.
Monett added a 32-20 win in the junior varsity game. Santillan scored eight points to lead the Lady Mustangs followed by Kylie Helm with four points, Leach and Jordan Witt three each and Karen Gasca two.