WEBB CITY, Mo. — The Webb City Cardinals held on tightly and eked out a 40-38 win over the Neosho Wildcats on Monday night in their Central Ozark Conference opener inside the Cardinal Dome.
Webb City erased a four-point deficit entering the fourth quarter with some timely baskets early and some critical defensive stops later in the fourth.
Webb City held Neosho to only seven points in the fourth with two field goals and three free throws accounting for the Wildcats’ total.
The Cardinals’ defense helped them overcome going without a point for the final 2 minutes and 12 seconds after Kate Brownfield’s old-fashioned three-point play put them ahead 40-34.
“Neosho is a much-improved basketball team,” Webb City coach Lance Robbins said. “We knew that coming into the game. Any time you’re playing a conference game, it’s going to be a battle. We struggled a lot tonight offensively. We never could get into a flow and could never get the tempo where we wanted it to be.
“Part of that has to do with Neosho and the way they played defensively, but I thought our defense is really what won the game for us. I thought we were able to get stops when we needed, and we were able to salvage together some baskets on the offensive end to give us a little bit of cushion toward the end.”
Neosho outscored Webb City 25-19 in the second and third quarters to build a 31-27 lead after three.
The Wildcats nearly saw the Cardinals break away from them late in the fourth, but a couple defensive stops and four timely points allowed Neosho to get within two points and the Wildcats had a chance to tie or to win it during the final seconds.
“We talked to the girls about how it was going to be a battle,” Neosho coach Daniel Durst said. “We were within a couple points at the end, and we put ourselves in a position to win it. That’s what they did, and unfortunately some things didn’t fall or go our way. That just happens, but we’ve been preaching toughness and that was pretty tough of us there. I’m frustrated it’s a loss, but I saw a lot of positives that we can take going forward.”
Sophomore center Sami Mancini sparked Webb City with 13 points, six rebounds, three assists, one steal, and six blocked shots. Most importantly, she managed to avoid picking up her fourth personal foul until later on in the fourth; despite missing a pair of front ends of 1-and-1s, Mancini netted seven of her points in the final eight minutes. Of course, on the defensive end, her presence in the paint loomed large over Neosho’s plan of attack.
Brownfield added 10 points, four rebounds, two assists, two steals, and one block.
Malorie Stanley knocked down a pair of 3-pointers for her six points, Mia Robbins’ five points came from three early in the fourth that knotted it up at 33 and a steal-and-score that accounted for the first points after halftime, Izzy Lopez scored all four of her points in the first, and Dawsyn Decker hit a pair of free throws in the third for her only points.
“Mal hit a couple huge threes for us in the first half when we were struggling offensively,” Coach Robbins said. “That’s something we know that she can do. She was able to do that tonight. In the second half, we struggled offensively but we had some kids step in and make some shots when we needed them. Again, our defense carried us toward the end. It wasn’t pretty, but a win is a win and we’re happy to walk out of here with a ‘W.’”
Webb City improved to 9-4 overall and 1-0 COC, and the Cardinals will take a five-game winning streak into Thursday’s second home conference game against Branson.
“This conference is arguably one of the best conferences in the state of Missouri in girls basketball,” Robbins said. “Like I said, every night’s going to be a battle, so we’re happy.”
Turnovers often tell the tale more than anything else for the Wildcats — their 21 turnovers Monday night helped Webb City overcome 13-47 (27.7 percent) shooting overall and allowing Neosho to shoot 15-36 (41.7 percent) for the game.
Senior post Karlee Ellick led all players with 15 points and 12 rebounds, and she added one steal and two blocks. She had 12 of her points by halftime.
Fellow seniors Raine Harris and Meredith Baldwin each contributed six points, Beclynn Garrett added five points and seven rebounds, and Autumn Kinnaird and Courtney Thomason added six more points to Neosho’s 12 bench points with three points each.
“The other thing we preach is keeping our heads on our shoulders,” Durst said. “When we get sped up and we get in a hurry, then that just kills our game. When we calm down, we are pretty formidable.”
Neosho dropped to 7-6 overall and 0-1 COC, and the Wildcats return to the court Wednesday for their second overall and first home conference game against Willard.
FULL STATS: Webb City HS (webbcitycardinals.com)
