The Joplin girls basketball team fell into an early hole it was unable to dig out in a 50-27 loss to Lee’s Summit in the opener.
The Eagles (2-6) fell into a double-digit deficit by the end of the first period after several early turnovers. The Tigers closed the first half and opened the second on a scoring surge to make the lead insurmountable by the start of the final eight minutes.
“I thought defensively in the first half that our intensity wasn’t great,” Joplin coach Brad Cox said. “We have to come out with a little more effort. We seemed a little sluggish tonight. Offensively, we weren’t really moving it well early. We are at the phase with this team where we need to start quicker. Slow starts and then a fast finish has been our Achilles heel all year. We are trying to get a fast start and a fast finish.
“And not to beat a dead horse, but we are still learning to play without Brynn [Driver—Joplin’s leading who was recently lost for the season with a knee injury]. We are looking for some girls to step up into leadership roles. I understand it, and I hope the girls do, but it will take time.”
GAME ACTION
Joplin opened the game with the first bucket in the form of an inside score by sophomore G Maria Loum before Lee’s Summit answered with the next 11 points to take the momentum, aided by several turnovers by the Eagles. Junior F Adriana Benassi accounted for six points, while sophomore G Avery Rausch had five, including a 3-pointer.
“When you play a team that presses, we can’t simulate that well within our practices because we don’t press much,” Cox said. “There is always that little adjustment period where it takes teams a while to get into a flow. Once we got into a flow, the turnovers weren’t nearly as big of a problem as they were early in the game.”
Joplin junior Bailey Ledford earned a steal and made a pair of shots at the stripe to end the run before the Tigers closed the first period with a 3-ball from Rausch with 25 seconds left for a 14-4 advantage.
The Eagles traded baskets with the Tigers to start the second quarter, with freshman F Alissa Owens and senior F Serafina Auberry registering in the scorebook, to cut the deficit to eight, 16-8, before Lee’s Summit closed the first half on a 14-5 run for a 30-13 cushion by the intermission.
“We do a lot of three-stops-in-a-row drills in practice, and that is where we needed to focus on that,” Cox said of his team’s close to the first half and opening of the second. “When things start slipping, we have to find a stop somewhere. We can’t let one bad decision turn into two and then snowball out of control. With this team, which is really young, we are trying to figure that out. It will be an adjustment for them, but I feel like they are getting better at it.”
Benassi had a three-point play and a pair of free throws, while junior G Tatum Bresette knocked down a 3-pointer and scored on a finger roll. Junior G Samantha Pond also had two buckets for the Tigers.
Auberry had an offensive rebound for a putback, while sophomore F Riley Kelly knocked down a 3-pointer for Joplin to close out the first half.
After scoring the last six points of the first half, Lee’s Summit scored the first eight of the second half to build a 25-point advantage with 3:42 on the clock. The Tigers played with a sizable cushion through the final horn.
LEADING SCORERS
Ownes led Joplin with seven points, while Ledford finished with six. Auberry and senior G Izzy Yust finished with four points each.
Rausch and Benassi each had 16 points to lead Lee’s Summit.
UP NEXT
Joplin takes part in the Waynesville Route 66 Shootout on Saturday.
