NEOSHO, Mo. — The Neosho Wildcats dug themselves too deep a hole in the first half on Wednesday night during their home Central Ozark Conference opener against Willard.
Neosho went scoreless for the first 4 minutes and 46 minutes of the game, then for 5:34 of the second quarter as Willard scored the game’s first 13 points, led 18-6 after one quarter, and went into halftime ahead 28-12.
Neosho cut its deficit to 38-33 early in the fourth quarter, but Willard had more than enough defensive stops and made foul shots to fend off the Wildcats and hold on for a 50-42 win.
The more than 10 minutes without a point ultimately proved too much to overcome.
“We started flat,” Neosho coach Daniel Durst said. “We weren’t making shots that we normally make, and I think it mentally affected us on the defensive end. We just have to get tougher in those instances. We fought back pretty hard in the second half, and we came up short.
“It’s the same situation that we were in when we played Fort Smith Northside (championship game of the Neosho Holiday Classic on Dec. 30). We start flat and we dig ourselves a hole. When we figure that out, we’ll be much more formidable than we are in these games. It’s just a mental battle that we fight.”
Younger players like sophomore Avyn Blair and freshmen Autumn Kinnaird and Jazmyn Washington helped give the Wildcats a significant boost on both ends in the second half, one of the main bright spots for Neosho on Wednesday and possibly going forward this season.
“I would say that our bench players, the younger ones, came in and were pivotal to us pushing forward and cutting that lead down to five at one point,” Durst said. “Without them, I don’t think that happens and so they’re starting to step up big and that’s huge for us.”
Neosho senior Karlee Ellick finished with a game-high 20 points, Kinnaird scored all of her eight points in the second half, Beclynn Garrett added four points, and Blair, Washington, Maelynn Garrett, Raine Harris, and Reagan McInturff each had two points.
At halftime, Ellick had eight of the Wildcats’ 12 points with Harris and McInturff chipping in the other four.
Willard senior Carolina Crawford and Elise Murray each scored nine points in the first half on their way to 14 and 11 points, respectively, while Emma Howard added nine, Kenadie Johnson seven, Kailyn Washington five, and Harper Floyd and Scarlett Floyd two points each for the Tigers, who improved to 4-9 overall and 1-1 COC.
Neosho dropped to 7-7 overall and 0-2 COC, and the Wildcats are looking to end a three-game losing streak when they return to action in the Gary Keeling Invitational hosted by Bolivar starting on Monday and running through Friday.
