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LADY TIGERS INVITE: Turnover bug bites Webb City in loss to Sunrise Christian

By:
Lucas Davis

CARTHAGE, Mo. — Webb City suffered its first defeat of the season in a 38-23 loss to Sunrise Christian on the second day of pool play in the Carthage Lady Tigers Basketball Invitational on Thursday.

After a seesaw first quarter, several second-quarter turnovers put the Cardinals (2-1) into a nine-point hole by the intermission. Webb City cut the lead to four in the third period, but that would be as close as the Cardinals would get before the Buffaloes (3-0) methodically pulled away down the stretch. 

“Overall as a team, we have to do a better job of taking care of the basketball,” Webb City coach Lance Robbins said. “We had too many careless turnovers offensively and too many missed assignments defensively. We just have to do a better job of things, but it is early in the season. We are playing some young kids and we are going to make some mistakes. It’s things that are correctable, and we just have to clean them up on both ends.”

The first quarter was a true back-and-forth affair, as the lead changed hands five times in the first eight minutes before the Buffaloes closed the opening period with a pair of driving scores by Stephie Salumu and KaMyra Barber for a 9-6 advantage.

The turnover bug bit Webb City in the second quarter, as Sunrise Christian scored 10 points on possessions following a Cardinal giveaway.

“I just think we started playing too fast,” Robbins said. “Other times, it was just mismanagement of executing a play offensively. But like I said, those things are correctable that we can get better at.”

After a basket from Ripley Shanks cut the lead to 11-9, Sunrise Christian went on a 9-1 run to pull out to a 20-10 lead with 2:25 to play in the first half. 

Barber started the run with a 3-ball from the wing before a Cardinal turnover led to a Barber drive on the other end before another Webb City giveaway turned into two points from Salumu at the other end to push the lead to 18-9. Following a Webb City free throw, Marta Konczalska found room on the drive inside to give the Buffaloes a 10-point lead.

Webb City’s Izzy Lopez ended the run with a 3-pointer from the wing to cut the lead to 20-13 before Konczalska answered back with a triple from the wing to push the lead back to 10, with the Cardinals heading into the intermission trailing 23-14.

Webb City came out of the locker room and was able to cut the lead to two possessions thanks to the play of Josie Spikereit, who opened the second-half scoring with a basket inside before cutting the lead to 23-19 after converting inside and drawing a foul for a three-point play with 3:15 left in the period.

“I thought she did a good job,” Robbins said of Spikereit’s play in the third quarter. “She did a good job of sealing up in the post and our guards did a good job of getting her the ball.”

Barber added a pair of driving scores to close out the third to give the Buffaloes a 27-19 lead.

Sunrise Christian pushed the lead to 10 early in the fourth quarter on a basket on the break from Samiyah Ellis and pulled away the rest of the way.

SCORING LEADERS

Kate Brownfield led Webb City with seven points, while Spikereit and Lopez each finished with five points in the loss.

Barber finished with 13 points to lead all scorers, while Konczalska finished with nine. Ellis scored seven and Salumu had six.

UP NEXT

Webb City will play on Saturday on the final day of the Lady Tiger Invite, with its opponent to be determined on Friday—the final day of pool play.

 

MILLER 41, HAR-BER 34

Miller outscored Har-Ber 18-4 in the fourth quarter to rally back for a win in the opening game of pool play at the Lady Tigers Invite.

Claudia Hadlock led the way for Miller down the stretch with nine of her team’s 18 points in the fourth quarter. She finished with 17 points, including three 3-pointers. Payten Richardson had 12 or Miller, while Kaylee Helton and Alyssa Hill each scored six. 

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