Girls basketball: Webb City suffers home loss to undefeated Pittsburg

WEBB CITY, Mo. — In a close girls basketball game, the Webb City Cardinals suffered a narrow loss to the Pittsburg Purple Dragons, 42-40, on Monday night.
“This next week and a half before our next game will be one of the biggest weeks we have,” Webb City coach Lance Robbins said. “Free throws are something we need to work on – if we made more free throws (10-of-23) we would’ve won this game. Defensively, I thought we did a pretty good job and shot the ball well at times. But we need to be more consistent with our play. If we play consistently for four quarters, we can be a pretty good team.”
The Cardinals got off to a hot start with an 8-2 run, including some impressive field goals from senior Jaydee Duda and a 3-pointer from senior Sierra Kimbrough.
The Purple Dragons battled back with an 8-3 run of their own, narrowing the score to 12-11 heading into the second quarter.
The back-and-forth streaks continued, as Webb City once again went on another 8-2 run. Duda kept up her hot streak with seven points, including a 3-pointer. Kimbrough also scored six points in the second quarter to contribute to the Cardinals’ 27-20 lead heading into halftime, giving her nine points on the half.
Coming out of the break, the Lady Cards scored five points quickly thanks to two baskets from senior Kenzie Robbins, including a 3-pointer. Robbins would have 12 points on the night, including seven free throws.
Despite the quick start, the Purple Dragons went on a 13-0 run to take the lead 33-32, but a pair of Kimbrough free throws would give the lead back to the Cardinals, 34-33.
The final frame would be a back-and-forth nail-biter, as the Purple Dragons rattled off nine points from four different players.
The Cardinals battled back with a run of their own thanks to four free throws from Robbins and a field goal from Duda. Despite the comeback, the Cardinals were unable to get another shot in the final seconds to give Pittsburg the win.
Madden Petty scored 14 points to lead Pittsburg (4-0). Duda led Webb City (3-5) with 13 points, while Kenzie Robbins had 12 and Kimbrough finished with 11.
Webb City is now off until a Jan. 4 home game with Parkview.