BLUE VALLEY WEST GIRLS 43, JOPLIN 18
Joplin started out strong before Blue Valley West rallied in the second quarter to gain the lead by the intermission and didn’t relinquish it before the sound of the final horn.
The Eagles (1-2) held a one-possession lead at the end of the first period before the Jaguars (3-0) used scoring runs to start the second and third quarters to build an insurmountable lead en route to the win.
“I thought we came out great in the first quarter,” Joplin coach Brad Cox said. “We came out, got after them and really executed the way we wanted to. Then, they kind of punched us in the face (in the second and third quarters) and we didn’t respond the right way. We have to understand that we can compete with anybody, but we have to sustain the competitiveness throughout the whole game.”
The Eagles held the 9-7 advantage after the first quarter thanks to five points from sophomore F Alissa Owens, including a 3-pointer, as well as buckets from senior F Bailey Owens and junior F Riley Kelly.
Blue Valley West bounced back in the second period. The Jaguars started the second period on an 8-0 run to take a 15-9 lead through the first three minutes of action. Mackenzie Galliart had four of the points with a pair of inside scores, while Brooke Carter added a steal and score on the break.
Joplin got buckets from Kelly and junior F Aiyana Kroll to trim the lead to one possession, 15-13, midway through the period.
BVW scored the final three points of the first half, with Galliart getting a bucket in the paint late in the quarter.
The Jaguars put the game out of reach thanks to their fast start in the second half, scoring the first 15 points of the third period to take a commanding 33-13 advantage through the first five and a half minutes of action. Marisa Tomlen highlighted the run with two 3-pointers and eight total points, while Galliart and Kendal Ford each had inside scores before Carther closed the run with her second trey of the game.
“It was our lack of effort,” Cox said when asked what changes in play he saw from his team after the first quarter. “And that is solely on me. That is my job to make sure that we are always playing with high intensity. We made some lineup changes at the end of the third quarter and start of the fourth and got after it a little better.
“That is some stuff I will have to look at when I watch film—who is going to go out and play extremely hard. We know our skill level is different and we have to counter that with effort. I don’t feel like our effort was there all game. When things started to go wrong, our effort deteriorated and that is something that cannot happen.”
Joplin got on the board with just over a minute to play in the quarter on a basket from Kelly before Alissa Owens added an inside score to cut the deficit to 33-17 with eight minutes left to play.
Blue Valley West played with its sizable cushion through the final horn.
Tomlen knocked down four 3-pointers on the way to 14 points, while Carter converted twice from the perimeter on the way to 12 points to lead BVW in scoring.
Alissa Owens and Kelly each had seven points to lead Joplin in scoring.
Joplin takes on Branson at 4:30 p.m. on Friday in the consolation bracket, while Blue Valley West takes on Russellville at 7:30 p.m. on Friday in the championship bracket.
RUSSELLVILLE 66, BRANSON 55
Russellville jumped out to a double-digit lead after the first eight minutes of action and never let go of the lead on the way to a win over Branson in the opening round of the Freeman Lady Eagles Classic on Thursday.
The Cyclones took a 17-6 lead into the second period and took an eight-point lead into the intermission. Russellville pushed its lead back to double digits by the end of the third quarter and held on down the stretch for the win.
Taleigha Ealy led all scorers with a game-high 21 points for Russellville, while Shyisha Willis finished with 12 and Kayna Keaster closed with 11 in the win.
Angelique Craigg had a team-high 17 points to lead the Pirates. Ellison Mehroff finished with nine points, while Kaedyn Pierce finished with eight in the loss.
Russellville takes on Blue Valley West at 7:30 p.m. on Friday in the championship bracket, while Branson takes on Joplin at 4:30 p.m. on Friday in the consolation bracket.
