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Nevada girls defeat Warrensburg at home, 57-44
By Eric Wade
Herald-Tribune
NEVADA -- "It was a tale of two halves, wasn't it?" A tale of two halves was just about the only way Nevada Lady Tigers head basketball coach Brent Bartlett could describe Friday's contest at Wynn Gymnasium against the Lady Tigers of Warrensburg.
Bartlett's squad dominated nearly every aspect of the game in the opening half, giving up just six points, but the story was far different in the game's final 16 minutes as Warrensburg won both of the final two periods by five and four points, respectively. That wasn't enough to overcome the Lady Tigers' first-half onslaught, however, and Nevada ultimately took the victory by a final score of 57-44.
"I'm very proud of our team,"Bartlett said. "We knew it was going to be a hard-fought win."
Though he was clearly happy with his squad's performance in the contest, he said this win was even more significant than the other two victories the Lady Tigers have recorded the season, simply because Friday was the night the participants from the Lady Tigers' annual youth basketball program were honored for their participation in this year's camp.
"Those little girls look up to our high school players and our high school players know that. They're great kids to look up to, so they want to be a good example on the court and off the court," Bartlett said. "They've enjoyed working with these kids in the summer and fall and camps. They've got to know them and the same way with me, so it's fun to perform well in front of them."
It didn't look as though a win would be a very difficult goal to reach at all as the Lady Tigers took the floor for the first half of the contest. In the opening two quarters, the Lady Tigers were relentless on the defensive end and didn't have much trouble putting up points, either, ultimately opening up a 34-12 advantage.
"What a great start. The first quarter was great," Bartlett said. "I thought Tori did a great job of posting up, finishing and the guards getting her the ball."
Though Bartlett couldn't have been more pleased with the way his team performed in the opening period, the second quarter of Friday's contest saw the Lady Tigers take a significant hit when 6-foot-1-inch sophomore Rilie Good went down with a sprained ankle. Good never returned to the game in the second half, but Bartlett didn't seem to worried after the contest's conclusion as to the severity of the injury.
"She's going to take good care of it," he said. "Ice and elevate it and keep it wrapped up all weekend."
By the time all was said and done, the Lady Tigers had nearly every player in the scoring column once again, led by Dahmer's 24 points. Dahmer was joined in double figures by Morgan McNeley, who finished the night with 15 points.
"I like our teamwork. They play well as a team and they're getting better in practice," Bartlett said. "We had two good practices and our defense is starting to do some things that I like."
As a team, the Lady Tigers shot just under 39 percent from the field overall, but finished 11-for-12 from the free-throw line. Warrensburg was a little bit better from the field at 41 percent, but finished the night making just five of eight free throws.
Nevada finished with eight assists on 23 field goals, along with eight steals and four blocks. Warrensburg had six assists on 18 baskets and finished with just one block while committing 16 turnovers to Nevada's eight.
The Lady Tigers finished the night with 32 rebounds -- 18 on offense -- while Warrensburg had 30.
The Lady Tigers' junior varsity squad was in action on the night as well and they completed the sweep with a 36-27 come-from-behind victory in the opening game of the night.
Things didn't go nearly as well for head coach John McNeley's Nevada Tiger boys, as they traveled to Warrensburg and fell by a final score of 51-43 in the varsity game. The Tigers' JV didn't have any better luck as they fell by a final score of 64-43.
With the win, Bartlett's Lady Tigers improved to 3-3 -- 2-0 in the newly-renovated Wynn Gymnasium at Nevada High School -- on the year and are scheduled to be back in action on Thursday, Dec. 13, when they take on Clinton High School at Wynn Gymnasium. Tipoff for the first game that night is scheduled for 5 p.m.