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Nevada girls fall to Webb City at home
By Eric Wade
Daily Mail Sports Editor
Though things didn't go well for the Nevada Lady Tigers basketball team against the Lady Cardinals of Webb City High School Friday night, fans were treated to something that hasn't been seen in 671 days when junior Mikayla Bartlett took the floor in game action with a little bit more than 4 minutes left in the third quarter.
"It felt absolutely wonderful," Mikayla's father, Lady Tigers head coach Brent Bartlett said. "It's something she dearly loves to do and so, to have her back out there means a lot to me. And I know, her teammates want her back out there, too, so it meant a lot to them."
Not only did Mikayla play a total of 8 minutes in the varsity contest, but showed a glimpse of her old self when she pulled up and hit a 3-pointer in her first minute on the floor. Much like her entrance into the game, that bucket was met with a raucous reaction from the crowd at Wynn Gymnasium, that was capped off by chants of the junior's name from the student section.
"The highlight, though, having Mikayla step in like old times and hit that 3-pointer and I was proud of her teammates, just giving her a hug and appreciating her being out there," Mikayla's father and coach said after the game.
By the time all was said and done, Mikayla finished the night with five points, a steal and two turnovers in her debut. She went 1-for-2 from the field and 2-for-5 from the free-throw line to go with her efforts on the defensive end of the floor.
"I'm not as good as I would have liked to be, but I'm getting there," Mikayla said. "You've got to start somewhere, right?"
Though she wasn't quite satisfied with her performance, Mikayla still came away from the experience with a substantial measure of excitement.
"I am so excited," she said. "It's fun to be out with my teammates and just having fun, you know. I'm so excited to play the game I love."
Though Mikayla's return to the varsity floor was enough of a highlight to make the trip to Wynn Gymnasium worth it for many fans, things didn't go well for the Lady Tigers as a team and Webb City took full advantage, taking the victory by a final score of 61-36.
"They're a good team," Coach Bartlett said. "We just, you know, we came out and played a little intimidated and nervous."
That nervousness and intimidation showed in the scorebook as the Lady Tigers struggled in every aspect of their game in the opening minutes of the contest. Webb City took full advantage, opening the night on a 12-0 run to put Nevada in a deep hole, right off the bat.
That ultimately turned into a 14-4 lead after a quarter and from there, the Lady Tigers were simply unable to recover. By the time the first half came to a close, Webb City extended its lead even more, opening up a 32-14 halftime advantage.
Though the Lady Tigers didn't shoot the ball well in the opening half -- finishing just 5-for-17 from the field -- the biggest reason for the halftime hole Bartlett's squad found itself in was turnovers. In the first half alone, the Lady Tigers coughed up the ball a total of 18 times, resulting in a higher total of giveaways than points.
"We just had too many turnovers," Bartlett said.
Webb City wasn't without its struggles in the opening half, however. The Lady Cardinals struggled on the boards and Nevada was able to turn that into an 18-12 rebounding edge and was also able to get Webb City's Megan Heman into quick foul trouble as she was tagged for three fouls in the opening half.
Things went much better in the second half for Nevada, as it was clear as soon as the two teams exited the locker room that the intimidation and nervousness were gone. Through the game's final 16 minutes, every aspect of Nevada's game improved. That didn't turn out to really matter much, however, as the hole was simply too deep for the Lady Tigers to dig out.
Despite the fact that the Lady Tigers' field-goal shooting didn't improve much in the second half, things got much better on the floor as Nevada committed just six more turnovers in the second half. The Lady Tigers improved significantly on the defensive end of the floor, as well, forcing eight turnovers and creating numerous jump balls.
"In the second half, I thought we competed," Bartlett said. "We bore down and competed and I was proud of them for that."
Not only did Mikayla's appearance provide a much-needed spark to the Lady Tigers in the second half, but Rilie Good was a force under the basket on both ends of the floor. By game's end, Good led the Lady Tigers in both points, with 14, and rebounds, with 12.
"I thought she competed," Bartlett said of his 6-foot, 2-inch center. "That's what we needed from her."
Most of the reason the Lady Tigers were unable to make a comeback in the second half was Webb City's Desirea Buerge. Much like she was when she took advantage of the Lady Tigers' lackluster play in the first half, Buerge was a force under the basket in the waning minutes of the contest, on her way to a 21-point night that led all scorers.
Buerge was joined in double figures by Kaitlin Beason with 14, Lexie Kneib with 11 and Mikaela Burgess with 10.
With the loss, the Lady Tigers dropped to 6-8 on the season.
"When you're playing good teams and that's what we're playing here today, you have to do things right," Bartlett said. "We got caught stagnant in the first half."
Next on the schedule for Nevada is Monday, when Bartlett's squad heads back out on the road to take on Skyline High School. Tipoff in that contest is set for 6 p.m.