NEOSHO HOLIDAY CLASSIC: Turnovers costly in Neosho’s semifinal loss to North Kansas City

NEOSHO, Mo. — The turnover bug bit Neosho hard in the Wildcats’ 39-17 loss to North Kansas City in the girls semifinal round of the Neosho Holiday Classic on Wednesday at the Neosho Junior High.

Both teams were tied after the first quarter before the Hornets forced the Wildcats into several turnovers while building a 13-10 lead by halftime. Kansas City North started the second half on a 10-0 run and never looked back en route to the win.

“We knew we were going to get pressured a little bit,” Neosho coach Ryan Madison said about North Kansas City’s defense. “They were going to get on us. They were more athletic than us. We just didn’t execute our game plan very well. We tried to run a few quick hitters and things—we just didn’t run them correctly. We had chances at backdoor cuts but we just didn’t run stuff right.

“We have to do a better job of taking care of the ball. I think some of that is youth and inexperience. I think we will get better. … I did see some good things offensively, we just have to finish layups and make our free throws. When we get those open looks, we have to knock them down.”

THIS N’ THAT

Neosho, which shot 19 percent in the loss, committed 30 turnovers to North Kansas City’s 14, leading the Wildcats to be outscored 24-3 in points off turnovers. The Hornets, which had an 18-2 advantage in fast-break scoring, took command inside the lane as well, outscoring Neosho 24-4 in paint points.

STATS

LaNicia Parker had 14 points, four rebounds and eight steals to lead North Kansas City, while Yar Manyiel had seven points, two assists and two steals. 

Eight players scored for Neosho, with Maelynn Garrett leading the way with four points and three rebounds. Raine Harris had three points and four rebounds, while Taigen Mitchell had two points and five rebounds.

GAME ACTION

After a back-and-forth first quarter that ended with both teams tied at 7s, North Kansas City took the momentum thanks in large part to forcing Neosho over. The Hornets outscored the Wildcats 6-3 in the second quarter, with Neosho totaling nine turnovers, 17 total giveaways in the first half. Despite the giveaways, the Wildcats only trailed by three at the intermission, 13-10.

“They got out into the passing lanes a little more and made it hard just to get into the offense,” Madison said in the difference between scoring in the first and second periods. “They also did a better job of bumping our cutters and letting us cut through to the basket. I also thought we missed some people (on flex cuts).”

After Garrett sank a free throw to start the scoring in the second and give the Wildcats a 8-7 lead, North Kansas City scored the next six points to take a 13-8 advantage. Parker highlighted the second quarter for North KC with a pair of layups off the break following steals.

North Kansas City cemented the momentum in its favor after scoring the first 10 points of the third quarter to take a commanding 23-10 lead with more than five minutes expired in the period. The Hornets first two baskets came off Neosho turnovers that went for scores on the break by Kennady Washington and Parker. Manyiel added a euro-step layup before Hailey Black knocked down a mid-range jumper from the free-throw line to highlight the run.

“We came out in the third quarter and ran a quick hitter and ran the wrong one,” Madison said of the run to start the second half. “Then the next trip down, we ran it but we didn’t run it right. None of the five players on the floor ran it correctly. That is frustrating because it wasn’t really anything they did. That is self-inflicted. We have to do a better job in those situations of knowing what we are doing when we are running stuff.”

The Hornets limited the Wildcats to one point in the third quarter and took a 24-11 lead into the fourth period, pushing the lead to more than 20 midway through and playing with that cushion to the final horn.

UP NEXT

Neosho takes on St. Joseph Lafayette in the third-place game at 2 p.m. at Neosho High School. Coach Madison spent eight seasons in charge of the Lady Irish before stepping down in 2018.

“Their head coach was my assistant and they run the exact same stuff that we run,” Madison said of the matchup with St. Joseph Lafayette. “We kind of learned it together. I told our girls it will be two teams running the exact same thing so no one is fooling anybody tomorrow. 

“Any coach will tell you that two wins in a tournament is great. Last year, we were fortunate to do that most of the time. This year in our first tournament, we didn’t. Again, here we are and if we don’t get this one, we will be one again. Hopefully the kids will come out with some pride for our gym, our tournament. We get to play in the big gym and should have a great atmosphere and a great crowd. Hopefully we will be ready to go and come out and rebound from this.”