Menu
Nevada girls thrash error-prone El Do
NEVADA, Mo. -- The Nevada Lady Tigers went over six minutes without a field goal in the first half but still managed to rout the El Dorado Springs Lady Bulldogs Tuesday, 55-38.
In the Lady Tiger Classic first-round contest it was Nevada's defense that made the difference, as they frustrated the Lady Bulldogs into 14 first-half turnovers and never trailed.
The short-handed Lady Tigers came out firing, getting increased contributions from Jordan Webb and Lisa Pendrak as they raced out to a 10-0 lead.
Webb scored the first four points of the game, and Pendrak hit a trey to put Nevada up by 10 with less than two minutes gone in the first period.
Then the Lady Tigers hit a funk. Pendrak's three with 6:02 left in the opening quarter was the last field goal Nevada scored until Pendrak broke the string with 7:14 left in the second.
Fortunately for them El Dorado Springs was having their own offensive struggles. The Lady Bulldogs had more turnovers than points in the opening period, giving it away eight times while managing only four points. For the game El Dorado Springs had 21 turnovers.
Nevada finally hit a stride in the second period, going on a 9-0 run to start the quarter to put the game away.
Amanda Wilson led the charge, scoring six straight points to make it 20-4, and El Dorado Springs would never threaten from there.
"We kept an athletic El Dorado Springs team down," Nevada head coach Brent Bartlett said. "We responded well."
Nevada dedicated the game to Afton Baldwin. The junior had surgery Tuesday to repair a torn ACL in her left knee, and was not able to attend. The Lady Tigers were also without Lindsay Rice, who has a doctor's visit scheduled today to determine the extent of her left knee injury.
Wilson led all scorers with 17 points, but she had been contributing offensively most of the season. Without two starters Nevada got 15 points from Pendrak and eight from Webb, two players Bartlett knew he'd have to lean on more.
"I'm proud of the girls," he said. "It takes a commitment to the team to regroup. You have to communicate better than you ever have."
As for Pendrak, Bartlett was gushing.
"She played the best I may have ever seen her play," he said.
Bartlett emphasized the entire team stepping up Tuesday.
"We had girls play a few minutes and did a great job, and we had girls play a lot of minutes and they played hard the whole time," he said.
Nevada (10-6) moved into the semifinals with the win and will play Raymore-Peculiar Friday at 8 p.m. That game will be at Wynn Gymnasium.
El Dorado Springs will have to play at Nevada Middle School Friday, when they take on Pleasant Hill at 8:30 p.m. in the consolation bracket.
Nevada's game was the only girls' contest played Tuesday in the Lady Tiger Classic.