Lady Mustangs Put Away Monett Early
The outcome of the McDonald County Lady Mustangs game against the Monett Lady Cubs in the first round of the district tournament was decided much earlier than a regular season matchup between the two Big 8 Conference schools.
McDonald County scored the game’s first 15 points before Monett scored in the final minute of the first quarter on the way to a 57-15 win on March 2 at MCHS.
In a Jan.18 game, McDonald County’s Samara Smith hit a three pointer at the buzzer to lift the Lady Mustangs to a 44-41 win.
The Lady Mustangs led 18-5 at the end of the period and stretched the margin to 34-11 at halftime before holding Monett to just four points in the second half while scoring 23 to win by 42 points in the Missouri Class 5 District 11 Basketball Tournament game.
“We played very well,” said coach Sean Crane. “We were a little nervous early. I think we threw the ball in the stands a couple of times, but we relaxed and played very well from then on. We all played well. Even when I subbed and rotated players in, we looked good. We shot it pretty well and our defense held them scoreless for
for over six minutes to start the game to set the tone of the game.”
Katelyn Townsend scored 11 points off the bench to lead a balanced Lady Mustang scoring attack. Smith added 10 points followed by Sydney Killion and Kristen Penn with eight points each, Nevaeh Dodson seven, Megan Elwood six, Carlie Cooper four, Jacie Frencken two and Kloe Myers one.
The win gives McDonald County a record of 12-14 heading into the district championship game against Logan-Rogersville set for March 4 at MCHS. Tipoff is set for 7 p.m.
Joplin
McDonald County led from the opening quarter on the way to a 62-45 win over Joplin on Feb. 23 at McDonald County High School.
The Lady Mustangs led 17-13 at the end of the first quarter and stretched its lead to 28-21 at halftime before Joplin cut the margin to 42-37 entering the fourth quarter. McDonald County used a 20-8 advantage in the fourth quarter to secure the win.
Smith scored 20 points to lead four Lady Mustangs in double figures. Killion added 13 points while Penn and Leach had 11 each.
Cooper had four points and Wiseman two to round out the scoring for the Lady Mustangs.
Joplin claimed a 33-24 win in the junior varsity game. Joplin jumped out to a 12-3 lead after the first quarter before McDonald County cut the margin to 19-14 at halftime. McDonald County was held to just one point in the third quarter as the Lady Eagles took a 23-15 lead into the fourth quarter.
McDonald County was led by Ebenee Munoz with seven points followed by Katelyn Townsend and Abigail Wiseman with four each, Nevaeh Dodson three and Megan Elwood, Kloe Myers and Analisa Ramirez two each.
McDonald County dominated the freshman game in a 41-17 win. The Lady Mustangs led 10-2 after the first quarter, 20-6 after the second and 26-11 after three.
Kylan Sherman scored 17 points and Corina Holland 10 to lead McDonald County followed by Ramirez and Anna Clarkson with six each and Helen Martinez with two.
Hollister
State-ranked Hollister led only 26-21 at halftime before pulling away in the second half to hand the McDonald County Lady Mustangs a 62-39 loss on Feb. 26 at McDonald County High School.
Hollister jumped out to a 12-3 lead midway through the first quarter, but McDonald County cut the lead to 16-10 at the end of the period.
The Lady Mustang opened the second quarter with a 7-0 run to take a 17-16 lead, but Hollister scored 10 out of the final 14 points of the half to lead 26-21 at intermission.
The Lady Tigers outscored McDonald County 23-9 in the third quarter to take a 49-30 lead into the fourth quarter.
Smith scored 15 points and Penn had 10 to lead McDonald County followed by Killion with eight and Katelyn Barton, Dodson and Elwood two each.
Barton was allowed an uncontested basket on a shot from the block in the final minute. The senior had knee surgery just a week before, basically ending her high school career.
McDonald County made it a split on the night with a 38-33 win in the junior varsity game.
Wiseman led the Lady Mustangs with 10 points followed by Sherman with eight, Clarkson with six, Elwood and Munoz four each and Natalie Gillming, Townsend and Myers two each.