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Nevada salvages fifth in Joplin tourney
By Joe Warren
Nevada Daily Mail
Showing very few effects from playing four games in five days, the Nevada Lady Tigers disposed of a pesky Neosho squad Saturday, taking fifth in the Joplin Lady Eagle Classic.
Nevada used good defense and a strong inside-outside effort from two starters to break open a close basketball game in the third quarter and roll to a 59-41 win.
"We had a little more energy than they did," Nevada coach Brent Bartlett said after the game. "We just couldn't get rid of them, they're a scrappy team."
Forward Lacy Leonard scored 10 of her 19 points in the third quarter as Nevada stretched a 31-25 lead into a 15-point cushion.
After a pair of baskets by Neosho's Lindsy Murray trimmed a 10-point halftime lead into a six-point margin, Leonard went to work in the paint.
The senior scored Nevada's next eight points as they tried to fend off Neosho, but the Lady Wildcats kept hanging around and still only trailed by six.
With 1:41 left in the third and Nevada clinging to a 39-33 lead, junior Lisa Pendrak hit possibly the single-most important basket of the game.
Pendrak drilled a three from near the top of the key and that sparked the Lady Tigers on to a 15-4 run.
"That was probably the key to the game, the play of the game," Bartlett said about the shot.
At the heart of the run was the Nevada defense, which had been a step slow for much of the game.
The Nevada defenders picked up their intensity after the Pendrak basket and held Neosho without a field goal for almost eight minutes.
By the time Murray scored with 3:45 left in the game, Nevada had a 54-39 lead and control of the fifth-place consolation game.
Bartlett said the defense turned it up a notch when they needed it.
"I felt like we were a step slower (than Friday's win over Joplin)," he said. "In the fourth quarter I feel like we got that step back."
Despite the Neosho effort, Nevada did not trail after a Hillary Adams three made it 6-5 with just over five minutes left in the first quarter.
Adams concluded a torrid tournament, scoring 24 points and carrying the Nevada offense in the first half when she scored 18 of those points.
Neosho as a team only had 21 points in the first half.
Adams had 78 points in three games during the tournament, as she finally got her outside shot to fall consistently for the first time this season.
Adams scored the Lady Tigers' first six points of the game on a pair from beyond the arc. She finished with four three-pointers in the game.
"Hillary did a great job getting us started," Bartlett said. "At halftime we stressed that we needed to get it inside."
The Lady Tigers did get the ball inside in the second half, and were able to take control of the game.
The win pushed Nevada's record to 5-1 this season. Their only loss was to Harrison, Ark., in their tournament opener on Thursday, which put Nevada into the consolation bracket.
Neosho, which was led by Meghan Cook's 12 points, fell to 1-5.
Harrison went on to win the Lady Eagle Classic, beating Marshfield in the championship game.
Springdale finished third, beating Bentonville, Ark., in the third-place game.
Joplin won the seventh-place game, beating Webb City handily.
The Lady Tigers are in action again today, as they travel along with the boys for a doubleheader at Fort Scott, Kan.
The first game starts at 6 p.m. at the Fort Scott High School gym.
The boys and girls JV teams also play at Fort Scott today.