CARTHAGE, Mo. — Despite a solid effort, a late rally fell short for the Webb City girls basketball team.
Bentonville finished strong for a 54-42 win over Webb City on Friday night at the Lady Tigers Shootout at Carthage High School.
The final score may be a bit deceptive in this one, as the Cardinals only trailed by four with two minutes to play.
In the end, the Cardinals were unable to get over the hump down the stretch, as the Tigers scored the game’s final eight points.
“I don’t think the final score was indicative of how competitive the game was throughout,” Cardinals coach Lance Robbins said. “Bentonville is a very good basketball team and they’ve got seven games under their belt. We were playing our second game and we’re still trying to work out some things. But it was a very good effort. I’m pleased with our effort and with how hard we’re playing.”
The Tigers used an 8-0 run in the first quarter and a 9-0 surge in the second period to gain some separation from the Cardinals.
Webb City stayed within striking distance, however, as sophomore post player Sami Mancini scored 10 points in the first half and junior guard Mia Robbins knocked down a pair of 3-pointers.
Bentonville’s hot-shooting from the perimeter was key throughout the contest, as the Tigers hit eight 3-pointers in the first half to take a 32-20 halftime advantage.
“We got off to a slow start defensively,” Coach Robbins said. “We didn’t defend the 3 real well early. But I thought we did a better job of that in the second half.”
Webb City trailed by 13 in the third quarter at 36-23, but the Cardinals put together a spirited, game-changing 11-0 surge to pull within two.
During the spurt, Izzy Lopez and Mancini scored inside, Mancini drilled a 3-pointer from the top of the key, Mia Robbins scored in transition and Lopez made two foul shots, cutting her team’s deficit to 36-34.
“I think our defensive pressure in the fullcourt allowed us to get out and run and made them shoot some quick shots,” Coach Robbins said. “We rebounded well and pushed the ball up the floor and were able to get some buckets in transition or out of our halfcourt offense.”
In the fourth quarter, hoops from Kate Brownfield and Mancini cut Bentonville’s advantage to 43-40 with three minutes left, but the Tigers got a huge trey from Ella Campbell.
The Cardinals were down four with two minutes to go at 46-42, but they simply had too many empty possessions and the Tigers closed the game on an 8-0 run.
“We just didn’t finish real well,” Coach Robbins said. “We have a lot of things we can get better at. If we do that, a lot of good things will happen for us.”
A 6-foot-5 post player, Mancini led Webb City with 21 points and 10 rebounds. Mia Robbins scored 11 points and hit three treys to go along with six boards.
Lopez scored four points and Brownfield grabbed seven rebounds to go with two points. Also scoring two points for the Cardinals were Kirra Long and Dawsyn Decker.
Four players reached double figures for Bentonville, as Campbell scored 15, Anna Lee Kulka had 12, Olivia Rustad added 11 and Sam Rhuda chipped in 10. The Tigers hit 10 3-pointers in the game.
Webb City (1-1) concludes tourney play at 11 a.m. on Saturday against Olathe East.
EL DORADO SPRINGS 54, OLATHE EAST 46
Three players scored in double figures for the Bulldogs, as Macie Mays scored 21, Neely Schaaf had 16 and McKinli Mays added 14.
Braylee Rogers scored 11 points for Olathe East, while Jillian Reese added 10.
El Dorado Springs plays Sunrise Christian at 9:30 a.m. on Saturday.
