OUTMATCHED: Girls Face Monett Tonight In Tournament
11-2 advantage to cut the margin to 51-34 midway through the period.
“We did a lot of good things,” said coach Blake Short. “Defensively, we had some breakdowns, but overall we played well. We rebounded the ball pretty well against a bigger team. We gave them a couple of spurts early and that kind of killed us. They shot the ball well. Sometimes when you are a little outmatched you have to hope they miss some shots and they didn’t.”
Rita Santillan and Meagan Mills scored 11 points each to lead the Lady Mustangs. Rounding out the scoring for McDonald County were Sam Frazier with five points, Kristin Penn with four, Laney Wilson three and Caitlyn Barton two.
Santillan’s total included three three-pointers from the role of point guard in relief of an injured Ragan Wilson.
“Rita played well,” Short said. “She did a good job at the point with Ragan out.”
Hayes led Neosho with 15 points, including three treys, while Emilee Kivett had 11 and Burr 10.
“Hopefully, what we gained, especially with Ragan out, is that the girls saw they can do this,” Short said. “Ragan will give us a boost when she comes back. Meagan (Mills) played well and Kristin (Penn) did a good job and Laney (Wilson) came off the bench and did some positive things. Jaylie (Sanny) and Aspen (Bowman) both gave us good minutes. I am proud of our effort against a pretty good team.”
McDonald County earned a split on the night with a 41-37 win in the junior-varsity game. The Lady Mustangs led 14-12 at the end of the first quarter before Neosho tied the game at 21-21 at halftime and 28-28 at the end of three quarters.
Laney Wilson led the Lady Mustangs with 11 points, followed by Barton with nine points, Katie Kester six, Lily Allman five, Alexia Estrada four and Addy Mick, Sydney Killion and Mollie Milleson two each.
The Lady Mustangs fall to 0-15 entering this week’s Seneca Girls Basketball Tournament. McDonald County opened against Joplin on Jan. 30 before facing Monett at 7:15 p.m. on Feb. 1.