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GIRLS BASKETBALL: Joplin starts fast and cruises to season-opening win over Cassville

By:
Lucas Davis

An early staunch defensive effort allowed the Joplin girls basketball team to jump out to a quick double-digit lead, setting the tone in a 49-26 win over Cassville in the 2021-22 season opener on Friday inside Kaminsky Gymnasium.

Joplin limited Cassville to seven first-half points while building a 16-point lead. The Eagles found little resistance in the second half, starting the third quarter on an 11-0 run en route to opening the season 1-0.

“I loved the effort,” Joplin coach Luke Floyd said after the win. “We’ve spent a lot of time working on our defense in the preseason, and it probably showed because of our offense tonight—we missed a lot of shots. But, I think we are going to be there defensively most nights, and that is what I have been preaching to the girls—if we come out and play defense, we are always going to have a chance.”

Joplin’s Ella Hafer opens the scoring with a scoop layup in the Eagles’ win over Cassville on Friday. Photo by Shawn Fowler.

GAME ACTION

Joplin used a 6-0 run from the tip to take the early advantage, with Ella Hafer accounting for two of the first three baskets on drives to the hoop.

After Macie Walker grabbed an offensive rebound for a put-back bucket to get Cassville on the scoreboard, Joplin finished out the opening period with the final seven points.

Scarlett Floyd scored inside to start the quarter-closing run, while Hafer added her third basket of the first quarter on the drive inside to push the lead to nine, 11-2, with 1:40 on the clock. Jill McDaniel finished out the scoring in the first quarter with a score off the drive to extend the lead to 13-2 heading into the second period of play.

“(Our defense) opens up our transition game,” Coach Floyd said. “The half-court offense is still a work in progress, but if we can turn them over with our defense and get out and run, particularly if we can get Ella going from the top. There are not a lot of players who can stop her from scoring.”

“I told them if we get some layups early on, that basket is going to start to grow and shots will fall for us in our half-court sets,” Floyd added. “Just bringing that energy and intensity early on set the tone for the rest of the game, I thought.”

The Eagles kept the foot on the pedal to open the second period, holding the Wildcats off the scoreboard for the first six minutes while going on a 10-0 run to balloon the lead to 23-10.

“When we were actually moving the ball and getting the ball into the paint, attacking the paint, I thought we looked really good,” Floyd said of his team’s offense. “We just have to find that consistency. I understand as a coach that the offense is going to come as the season progresses. We are going to get there. I thought we had a ton of good looks but we just weren’t knocking them down tonight.”

Joplin’s Emma Floyd scores inside during the Eagles’ season-opening win over Cassville on Friday. Photo by Shawn Fowler.

Emma Floyd and Brynn Driver each had four points in the run, with Hafer adding a mid-range jumper from the baseline. 

Cassville didn’t get on the scoreboard until the Wildcats converted five free throws with roughly a minute to play before halftime, going on to trail 23-7 heading into the intermission.

After dominating inside in the first half, Joplin went to the perimeter early in the third quarter, with Hafer and Brooke Nice knocking down 3-balls to fuel and 11-0 run out of the break to push the lead to 34-7, essentially putting the game out of reach.

“We set some goals at halftime and challenged the girls,” Floyd said. “We are competing against ourselves as much as we are (any opponent). We want to be the best version of us and I think the girls have really bought into that.”

“I think any girl we put on the floor can knock down a 3,” Floyd added about his team’s perimeter attack in the third quarter. “The problem we run into occasionally is falling in love with the 3. I love the 3, but I like it when it comes from the inside-out.”

SCORING LEADERS

Hafer led Joplin with 15 points, while Driver finished in double figures with 11. Emma Floyd finished with eight, and Nice added five.

Madison Halterman led Cassville with nine points, while Ashlynn Bryan had five. Sharaya Seymour and Walker each had four points.

UP NEXT

Joplin hits the road with a matchup at East Newton on Monday.

Joplin’s Brooke Nice lets go of a 3-pointer in the Eagles’ win over Cassville on Friday. Photo by Shawn Fowler.

 

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