Lady Tigers lock up championship with win over Odessa

Lori Bartlett/Special to the Daily Mail/ The Nevada Lady Tigers finished in first place a the 37th Annual Clinton Girls Basket Tournament. Pictured front row, left to right: Seniors Mikayla Bartlett, Rilie Good, and Morgan McNeley. Back row: Head Coach Brent Bartlett, Megan Hold, Chloe Bartlett, Megan Payne, Madi Culbertson, Renee Cox, Jansen Miller, and assistant coach Jenny Allard.

CLINTON ---- The Nevada Lady Tigers added more hardware to their trophy case, defeating the top-seeded Odessa Lady Bulldogs 51-40 in the championship game of 37th Annual Clinton Girls Basketball Tournament, Saturday.

With the victory, Nevada ups their record to 14-3, while Odessa falls to 13-4.

"It was a great week for our team," Nevada Head Coach Brent Bartlett said. "We played well as a team and I am very happy for the girls for winning the championship."

The Lady Tigers led 12-4 at the end of the first quarter, and 28-20 at the intermission.

Nevada outscored the Lady Bulldogs 11-7 in the third quarter, to grab a 39-27 advantage.

Point guard Morgan McNeley and center Rilie Good combined for seven of Nevada's 12 fourth quarter points, as the Lady Tigers coasted to the 11 point victory.

The only negative on the afternoon for Nevada was foul trouble, which they overcame.

"We did have some adversity with Morgan and Mikayla (Bartlett) getting their third fouls in the second quarter," Bartlett said. "But we had girls step up with ball-handling and scoring in that quarter."

For Nevada, Good finished with a game-high 16 points, knocking down seven shots from the field. McNeley added 13 points, connecting on two 3-pointers while sinking 5 of 6 free throws.

Mikayla Bartlett scored nine points, including seven in the second quarter. Rounding out the scoring for Nevada, forward Megan Payne finished with five, while Madi Culbertson, Chloe Bartlett, Megan Hold, and Jansen Miller each chipped in with two apiece.

All-Tournament team

McNeley and Good earned All-Tournament team honors.

Next up

The Lady Tigers trek back to Clinton for a Tuesday night West Central Conference clash with the Lady Cardinals. The game is scheduled to tip off at 5:30 p.m.