NHS girls fight for first place

Sunday, February 11, 2007
Tori Miller brings down a rebound

By Joe Warren

Herald-Tribune

NEVADA, Mo. -- The Nevada Lady Tigers overcame 24 turnovers by hitting eight 3-pointers as they maintained the top spot in the Southwest Conference with a 55-38 victory over the McDonald County Lady Mustangs Friday, at Wynn Gymnasium.

Afton Baldwin scored 18 points on her 18th birthday, a couple hours after being crowned Courtwarming queen, and Kristen Badgley had half of Nevada's long-range bombs as the Lady Tigers led throughout.

"What an effort," Nevada head coach Brent Bartlett said. "The teamwork was tremendous. They were trying to push us around and they weren't doing it to us."

With the referees allowing a physical game to take place neither team backed down. The battle on the glass and for every loose ball resembled a rugby scrum, almost complete with the kicking, biting and scratching.

It was a style of play Bartlett was expecting, even if it's one the Lady Tigers aren't accustomed to.

"That was the gameplan," he said. "We had three things, contain (Melanie Bowers), get the ball to the high post, and be physical because they were going to come out and punch us in the nose and we had to be ready for it."

Nevada started strong by scoring 21 points in the first quarter, thanks in large part to their proficiency from beyond the arc. Baldwin and Badgley each had a pair of treys in the first period, and the Lady Tigers led 21-11.

Meanwhile, McDonald County (10-11 overall, 2-3 in the conference) battled foul trouble in the first half. Their two leading scorers, Jamie Shields and Tessa Porter, were each whistled twice in the opening quarter.

Nevada (16-3, 3-1) would build a 15-point lead with the two stars on the bench in the second period, but the Lady Mustangs inserted Porter into the lineup with four minutes to go in the half, and they trimmed the deficit to nine by the break.

In the second half neither team took care of the basketball, as Mac's 1-2-2 halfcourt trap generated nine Nevada turnovers in the third quarter alone.

"That's when things got real confusing (for us)," Bartlett said. "We've got to stay organized and we've got to keep our girls in the right spots."

Even in Nevada's confusion the Lady Mustangs couldn't buy a bucket, and the Lady Tigers maintained their lead into the fourth period.

With the score 39-30 early in the fourth, Nevada finally solved McDonald County's trap and they went on a 12-0 run to seal the game.

"Once we started getting the ball inside, instead of trying to skip pass over them and shooting from outside, we did much better," Bartlett said.

Badgley finished with 12 points, as did Amanda Wilson for Nevada. The Lady Tigers also controlled the glass, outrebounding McDonald County 34-18. Wilson and Lindsay Rice each had eight boards, while Jordan Webb had seven.

Porter led the Lady Mustangs with 13 points, while Shields had 10.

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