The Ozark Lady Tigers put down the Willard Lady Tigers 63-31. Ozark sealed Willard’s fate early, outscoring them 21-10 in the first quarter.
The first few minutes of the game set the stage for a blowout win, exactly as head coach David Brewer had directed the Ozark Lady Tigers.
“The last few games we came out a little stagnant early,” said Brewer. “The whole thing tonight was the first four minutes of the game, to come out and establish ourselves against them. I thought we did a good job of that. Once we did that, it leaned in our favor the rest of the way.”
Trailing 7-6 early in the first, Ozark’s Jadyn Easley sank a trey to give her team the lead, 9-7. Ozark never gave up that lead the rest of the night, outplaying Willard with a fast inside game.
“Our post play has been good all year, it really has,” said Brewer. “The key for us has been how good our guards play. When they play like they did tonight and make good choices, we’re a pretty good team. At times our guards are a little loose with the basketball, and turnovers cost us.
We didn’t do that tonight.”
Willard turned up its defense in the 2nd, but Ozark went 6 for 9 at the line. Kaylan Smith (jr.) scored 6 of her 9 points in the 2nd, and Ozark led 33-16 at the half.
“We all went in with a play-hard attitude,” said Smith. “No matter what happens, we’re going to do our job, and we’re going to play to our level. We prepared pretty well for what they were going to do. Our team’s strength is hustle. If there’s a ball on the ground, we’re going to be the first ones to go and get it. We’re going to do everything we can to get rebounds.”
Willard tried to push back in the 3rd, scoring 11 points. Ozark faltered at the line in the 3rd, scoring only 1 for 8, but their inside play remained strong. Kendra Sater and Bre Johnson each put in a shot from the rim for the Ozark Lady Tigers, and their lead widened to 52-27 going into the 4th.
Ozark’s 63-31 win improves their record to 10-6. Willard stands at 2-11 for the season.
1 2 3 4
Willard 10 6 11 4 — 31
Ozark 21 12 19 11 — 63
Ozark: Ally Lollis 11, Kaylan Smith 9, Macey Putt 9, Morgan Doyle 8, Jadyn Easley 6, Mikayla Putt 6, Bre Johnson 5, Kendra Sater 5, Makensi Taylor 4 – 63
Willard: Kennedy Burch 9, Kelsie Carroll 4, Brittany Mahan 4, Joran Stout-Mitchell 4, Josie Berry 3, Bre Bates 2, Hannah Parker 2, Brooke Perkins 2, Brooklyn Wade 1 — 31
