NEOSHO, Mo. — Neosho built an early first-quarter lead before Glendale rallied and held off the Wildcats for a 58-47 win on Thursday.
The Wildcats (4-4) went to work in the paint early to build a lead and took the advantage into the second period. The Falcons (6-1) stabilized their play in the second quarter, grabbing a two-point cushion by the intermission and expanding to double digits in the second half while holding off Neosho for the win in the process.
“They came out, played hard and did what I asked them to do,” first-year Neosho coach Daniel Durst said. “In the first quarter, we were rolling. We got into trouble when they adjusted on our big. We preach a lot to the girls that everyone on the floor has to contribute. Tonight, we saw a lot of girls balk at contributing. Even the shots we were taking were kind of off-balance because we weren’t ready to shoot the ball. That is kind of what we saw tonight.”
GAME ACTION
Neosho held a slim 17-16 lead after the first quarter thanks in large part to the inside attack of senior F Karlee Ellick, who finished the opening period with 10 points, including the Wildcats’ first eight of the game.
“She was huge,” Durst said of Ellick’s play. “She really makes us go. We rely on her a lot. Unfortunately in this game, that hurt us in the long run.”
Neosho held a five-point, 17-12 lead with a minute to play in a first quarter that saw four ties. The Falcons rallied with a pair of scores on the break by senior F Avery Givens and senior G Meegan Randall inside the final 60 seconds to trim the deficit to 17-16.
Glendale took its first lead of the game, 19-17, right out of the break when senior F Reilly Heman earned a steal for a layup in transition, drawing a foul and knocking down the and-1 free throw to finish the play. The Falcons stretched their lead to five with 2:50 left in the first half off a pair of charities from Heman.
Neosho rallied to tie the game with 48 seconds left after an elbow jumper from sophomore G Avyn Blair and a 3-pointer from junior G Courtney Thomason.
Glendale ultimately went into the intermission with a 28-26 lead after sophomore G Megan Wade connected on a mid-range jumper just before the horn.
“Really what they did was double down on (Ellick),” Durst said about the adjustment Glendale made after the first period. “We did a poor job of swinging the ball quick enough to attack that weak side. We’ve done a good job of that in previous games. I don’t know what it was about today, but they were not looking for it at all.”
The Falcons pushed the lead to six with five minutes left in the third period after Rachel Flewell scored on a drive.
The Wildcats cut the deficit to one possession after sophomore G Beclynn Garrett scored on the drive and freshman G Autumn Kinnaird connected on a baseline jumper to make the score 36-34 at the midway point.
Glendale pushed the lead back out to a game-high nine points by the end of the third quarter after Wade buried back-to-back 3-balls inside the final 45 seconds of the third period to give the Falcons a 45-36 advantage.
Glendale got a third straight 3-pointer out of the final break when senior G Skylar Bancsek connected from the wing for a 48-36 lead.
“That was huge,” Durst said about the end of the third and start of the fourth quarters. “In a game that was that close, those points were insanely important. To be honest with you, we were gassed. We were tired and it showed. We didn’t get out to shooters. We had done a pretty good job of that early. You could tell our defense suffered because we were winded.”
Neosho trimmed a game-high 14-point deficit down to single digits, 50-42, with 3:42 left in regulation after Garrett made both charity shots. The Wildcats cut the Falcons’ lead to six on a 3-pointer from Blair with 2:30 left, but that would be as close as Neosho would get to the lead before the clock hit zeros. Glendale knocked down 7-of-11 shots from the stripe in the final eight minutes.
“They fought hard,” Durst said of his team’s performance. “Really, it came down to (Glendale) making a ton of free throws. If they have an off night, maybe it’s a different outcome. But, they knocked everything down. We tried to give ourselves a shot, it just didn’t happen.”
SCORING LEADERS
Ellick led Neosho with 14 points, while Reagan McInturff finished with nine points. Maelynn Garrett finished with six points, while Blair closed with five for the Wildcats.
Heman finished with 24 points to lead Glendale, while Maitse Zingg and Flewell each finished with 10 to give the Falcons three players in double figures.
UP NEXT
Neosho hosts William Chrisman at 2 p.m. on Monday.
