NEOSHO, Mo. — The Seneca Indians opened their season with a 66-63 win Monday night over their Newton County rival Neosho Wildcats.
Seneca heated up from 3-point range early on and built a 24-12 lead after one quarter. Neosho outscored Seneca 32-19 in the second and third quarters to enter the fourth ahead by a 44-43 score.
Neosho fell behind seven early in the fourth but righted the ship and earned a 61-all score on a Meredith Baldwin trifecta in the final minute, but Seneca’s sensational sophomore Hazley Grotjohn scored four straight points to give the Indians a 65-61 lead with 13.1 seconds remaining in regulation.
Grotjohn fouled out less than four seconds later, but not before scoring a game-high 35 points with 30 of them produced in the second half. At one point in the third and early in the fourth, Grotjohn had scored 16 straight Seneca points.
“We did not come out with the type of energy that we want to, and so it took a little while for us to get started,” Neosho coach Daniel Durst said. “Once we did, unfortunately we had dug ourselves a little bit of a hole that we had to fight out from and that’s always tough and it takes a lot of energy. You can tell that we were struggling through it, but I’m proud that we fought back and now it’s just onto the next step where we finish these types of games where they’re super close.
“We have got to get to the point where we can finish. Unfortunately, we haven’t been in a ton of these situations, so this was a great learning experience for us. I keep trying to tell them that every game before Christmas is a stepping stone and we learn something. Next time we’re in this situation, we’ll be a little bit better at it.”
Senior post Karlee Ellick led Neosho with 23 points, sophomore Beclynn Garrett added 17 with 12 of them in the second half, senior Baldwin scored all eight of her points in the fourth, junior Courtney Thomason added five, freshman Autumn Kinnaird four, and seniors Reagan McInturff and Maelynn Garrett three each.
Neosho dropped to 1-1 on the season, and the Wildcats return to action Tuesday on the road against Clinton.
“The biggest thing is the fight we had,” Durst said. “We never gave up. Not once. That was a huge point coming into the season, that we’re going to play hard each and every minute.
“We scored quite a few points tonight, which is something that we struggled with last year. Everybody was looking to score and to attack, and that’s something we’ve pushed hard. I’m proud of them for that.
“Defensively, Grotjohn’s a tough matchup and I thought we guarded her well. It wasn’t perfect all the time, but I feel like we worked hard guarding her so I’m proud of that as well.”
Seneca, 1-0 on the season, does not return to action until after Thanksgiving break with play in the CJ Classic next Monday against Parkview.
In the opener against Neosho, senior Parker Long scored 10 of her 14 points in the first quarter, junior Samarah Mittag added seven, senior Daylin McKnight six, and junior Sydnee Staley four.
The Indians made 10 3-point baskets Monday with half of them in the first quarter.
Neosho’s Karlee Ellick shoots over Seneca’s Makenzie French during Monday’s game at Neosho High School. Photo by Derek Livingston.
