Lady Tigers win big in home opener

Wednesday, December 8, 2004
Lisa Pendrak goes for a layup after getting a steal during Nevada's 67-42 win over Carl Junction Tuesday at the William E. Wynn Jr. Gymnasium. Nevada went on an 18-0 run in the first quarter to blow the game open. Pendrak scored eight points in the win.

By Joe Warren

Nevada Daily Mail

This game was over quickly.

While the regulation high school basketball game consists of four quarters, each eight minutes in length, the Nevada Lady Tigers used an 18-0 run during a five-minute stretch in the first period to put Tuesday's home-opener against Carl Junction out of reach.

The Lady Tigers (3-0) started strong, scoring the first four points of the game on free throws by Lacy Leonard and a basket by Lisa Pendrak.

After a Carl Junction basket Hillary Adams got in the books with a jumper to make it 6-2.

Another Carl Junction basket made it 6-4 with about 5:30 left in the first period.

Then the Lady Tigers went off.

Adams hit a three. A defensive stop led to a basket by Leonard, then the next possession Adams hit another three.

Afton Baldwin got in on the action with a basket to make it 16-4.

Leonard hit two more from the line to make it a 14-point lead.

A Carl Junction turnover led to a basket by Amanda Wilson.

Leonard hit a layup and Adams had another basket.

With 48 seconds left in the first quarter Carl Junction finally scored again, hitting a layup, but the Tigers had already built an insurmountable lead.

Katie Rice finished the period with a basket of her own and Nevada owned a 26-6 lead going into the second quarter.

The second period was not much better for Carl Junction, as Nevada continued to use a full-court press and solid shooting to make it a 41-14 halftime advantage.

"The first half was real solid," Nevada coach Brent Bartlett said. "Our press got us jump-started,"

Bartlett gave the defense credit for the 18-0 run.

"It all started from our defense," he said

Bartlett was particularly pleased with the Lady Tigers' intensity.

"The tenacity starting out was tremendous," he said.

Adams led the Lady Tigers with 16 points, while Leonard had 13.

Carl Junction had only one player in double-figures, as freshman Amanda Decastro scored 13 points.

With the Lady Tigers getting up by such a large margin, Nevada was able to go deep into their bench. As evidence, Nevada had 10 different players get on the scoreboard.

"One of my goals was to get a big lead so we could rest our starters," Bartlett said.

The rest will be key because they begin play in the Lady Eagle Classic in Joplin Thursday. From there the Lady Tigers will play in three games in three days, making it four games in five days including Tuesday's win.

Nevada's first opponent in the tournament will be Harrison High School from Arkansas. Harrison is the defending 4A state champion in Arkansas.

That game will begin at 7 p.m. Thursday at Joplin High School.

Nevada will then play either Joplin or Bentonville, Ark. in their second game, depending on how the first round of games go.

Also participating in the tournament are Neosho, Webb City, Springdale and Marshfield, Ark..

In the junior varsity game Tuesday, Nevada also won big, getting a 49-32 victory.

The JV Lady Tigers had a 38-7 lead going into the fourth quarter, and withstood a 25-point barrage from Carl Junction in the final period.

Jordan Webb led the JV with 14 points and Lindsay Rice had 11.

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