Despite a strong finish, it was the slow start to every quarter that plagued Joplin in its 53-50 loss to Pittsburg on Tuesday inside Kaminsky Gymnasium.
Pittsburg used a significant scoring run to start each quarter, which ultimately resulted in Joplin fighting its way back all game long, trailing by as much as 18 points in the fourth quarter. The Eagles closed the contest out with a tremendous surge, but never had a chance at a game-tying shot.
“That is something we just talked about in the locker room—we have to start quarters better,” Joplin coach Luke Floyd said. “The third quarter all season seems to be our bugaboo. Maybe we just need to skip halftime and keep on playing. We have to figure out how to put 32 minutes together. I told the girls that I was extremely proud (of the finish). I think we were down 15 with three minutes to go. That is great. But we have to learn to not dig ourselves into that hole and be engaged right from the get go.”
The Dragons jumped out to an early 11-2 lead before the Eagles (6-9) rallied with the final six points of the first to trim the lead one, 11-10. Emma Floyd, Lily Pagan and Brynn Driver all had baskets to close out the first for Joplin, with Driver’s counting for a three-point play.
Pittsburg started the second period on a 7-3 run to push the margin to 18-13 by the 3:35 mark. Jaqueline Hall had a steal and a score on the break and Madden Petty knocked down a 3-pointer.
“She is a really good player,” Coach Floyd said of Petty. “We just had trouble staying in front of her. We have to be disciplined in our defense. I thought she and (Hall) were able to get inside and get to the paint all night long to create a shot for themselves or create for somebody else, and we have to be better than that. Our girls know that.”
With Joplin trailing 25-20 to start the second half, Pittsburg opened the third quarter with the first four baskets, with AJ Fornelli accounting for a pair of those buckets, to extend the lead to double digits for the first time, 33-20.
The Dragons led by as much as 16 in the third before Joplin closed the quarter with scores from Brooke Nice and Driver to cut the margin to 41-29. Pittsburg used a 9-3 run to open the fourth to send the lead up to a game-high 18 points, 50-32, with less than four minutes to play. Petty led the surge with five points, including a 3-pointer.
The Eagles, like they had several times over the course of the game, fought their way back down the stretch to cut the lead to two possessions, 53-48, on a 3-pointer from Driver with 9.8 seconds left as part of a 16-3 run. Joplin added a basket at the buzzer but never had a chance at the tie. Driver accounted for seven points during the run, while Pagan and Floyd both scored four to lead the way.
“I think a lot of it is just having the mindset of what we are doing,” Coach Floyd said when asked what differences he saw from his team from the start of each quarter to its finish. “We can’t wait to be punched in the mouth. We are a very reactionary team, but we’ve been preaching all year we want to be the aggressor.”
TROUBLE AT THE STRIPE
Joplin struggled from the free-throw line in the loss to Pittsburg. The Eagles shot 6-for-15 from the charity stripe in the first half before making just 1-of-5 free throws in the second half to finish with a 7-for-20 conversion rate.
“We told the girls that we miss anywhere from 12 to 15 free throws tonight and we lost the game by three,” Coach Floyd said. “I don’t know what it is. We take time in practice to shoot them when we’re tired and when we are fresh. We just have to be able to step up to the line and knock down free throws. They are free points. … Those are killers.”
SCORING LEADERS
Driver led Joplin with a team-high 17 points, while Pagan scored 12 and Floyd added 10. Nice contributed eight.
Petty scored a game-high 24 points to lead Pittsburg, with Hall adding 11 in the win.
