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Nevada girls win close contest at McDonald County
ANDERSON, Mo. -- Revenge is sweet. That is exactly what was on the minds of the Nevada Lady Tigers basketball team and head coach Brent Bartlett coming into Friday night's action at McDonald County High School.
In a game that was substantially different from the first meeting between the two teams, the Lady Tigers were able to get the revenge they sought over head coach LaDonna McClain's Lady Mustangs and spoil Senior Night at the same time as they earned a 58-53 victory.
"What a great performance by our team," Bartlett told KNEM/KNMO radio after the game. "The girls kept their composure and knocked down some shots."
The two teams met for the first time this season at Wynn Gymnasium in Nevada with very different results. In that contest, The Lady Tigers simply couldn't seem to find the basket and McDonald County compounded that problem even further with their best shooting night of the season. Thanks to both of those factors working in their favor, the Lady Mustangs ultimately held off a late charge by Nevada to take that contest by a final score of 58-50.
In Friday night's contest, the Lady Tigers were forced to play without senior Lauren Klinksick, but that didn't seem to matter as they were able to hold the Lady Mustangs in check throughout most of the game. On top of that, several players stepped up to fill the void left by Klinksick's absence, allowing the Lady Tigers to earn the victory.
Most notable of those players was sophomore Olivia Culbertson, who finished the night with by far her best performance of the year as she shot 5-for-13 from the field and 5-for-7 from the free-throw line on her way to a career-high 18 points. "We've been looking for that. What a tremendous game," Bartlett said of the 5-foot-6-inch sophomore. "She was under control, she wasn't rushing her shot. She let the game come to her."
As a team, the Lady Tigers shot much better Friday night than they did in the first meeting as they converted on 17 of 48 field goals, but still struggled from the field, hitting only 35 percent of their field goals. McDonald County didn't shoot much better in the contest as they went 19-for-47 from the field for 40 percent.
The Lady Tigers got off to a strong start in the contest as they jumped out to a quick 14-10 lead after the first quarter and never looked back before the break. With no ties or lead changes in the opening half, the Lady Tigers looked as though they would have an easy time earning the victory as they opened up a double-digit lead at 26-16 at the half.
That all changed in the third quarter, however, as McDonald County took advantage of Tiffani Long's forced absence due to first-half foul troubles and outscored Nevada 19-6 to take their first lead of the contest at 35-32 heading into the final 8 minutes.
That lead didn't last long, however, as the Lady Tigers rebounded with a 26-point fourth quarter to ultimately pull out the victory by a final score of 58-53.
The Lady Tigers looked as though they may continue to struggle in the second half with foul troubles as they committed seven in the first half of the third quarter, but it was McDonald County's hopes of a victory that were dashed in the final two minutes of the game as most of their offense was forced to leave the game.
Sam Pierce was the first in a flurry of Lady Mustangs players to foul out of the contest in the final 2 minutes. Ryan Parson and Shaye Buttram followed by the time all was said and done and the Lady Tigers kept up the intensity, ultimately resulting in the victory.
Long joined Culbertson in double figures on the night as she finished with 14 points.
The Lady Tigers' junior varsity was in action on the night as well and ultimately completed the sweep for Nevada with their 14th victory in 15 games this season by a final score of 44-38.
With that win the Lady Tigers improved to 16-5 on the year and are set to finish out the Nevada Lady Tiger Classic tournament with a make-up game today against Carthage at 3:30 p.m., at Wynn Gymnasium to decide the recipient of this year's third-place trophy.