By Don Eskins
Clever, MO – The Clever Lady Blue Jays pushed their seasonal record up to 4-3, Thursday night in Clever, with a 68-42 victory over the East Newton Patriots.
For the Jays, the victory was a no-doubter. Clever jumped out in front of the Pats 23-12 after the opening quarter of play. After both clubs put up 13 points each in the second period the Jays enjoyed a 36-25 lead at the half.
Abi Menzies dropped in ten points to lead the Jays over the first two quarters of play. Hannah Maples and Harper Little each added eight.
The Blue Jays opened things up in the second half oupointing the Patriots 32-17 to pick up the 68-42 victory.
Maples, who added eleven more points to the Blue Jay total, finished the night as Clever’s high point scorer with nineteen. Menzies was close behind with eighteen. Little finished her night’s work with twelve.
Leading the way for the Pats was Jaylen Hayward with sixteen.
“I thought our kids did a good job tonight, they held together and fought hard through a lot of adversity,” said Blue Jay head coach Dan Jones. “We ran into foul trouble early and had to sit several of our kids down on the bench. I’m really proud of how the kids were able to work through it. It was a great team win.”
“The early fouls allowed the Patriots to hang around in the first half,” said Maples. “They made a lot of trips to the foul line. But they also did a good job on the offensive boards to help keep them in the game.”
Although sitting at just 4-3 the Clever head man feels more than comfortable with just where his team sits.
“Our kids have played tough this year against some great competition. One of their losses came against top ranked Strafford and another against West Plains, ranked fifth,” said Coach Jones. “It’s still early in the season and we’re still searching for our identity, but we’re coming together and I’m a very fortunate coach to be working with such a great group of young ladies.”
While the Jay’s record may be a bit deceptive, the same thing could be said about the Pats. The Patriots, at 4-6, have yet to play at home in 2016.
“It’s been a tough start, being on the road so much,” said East Newton coach Erin Rice. “Tonight we were a little inconsistant with our effort, but I think being on the road so much this year might have had something to do with that. But I’m proud of my kids and we’re all ready to get home.”
The Pats won’t have to wait much longer. Monday night they will entertain Neosho.
Box Score
East Newton 12 – 13 – 9 – 8 – 42
Clever 23 – 13 – 12 – 20 – 68
Leading scorers Clever: Hannah Maples 19, Abi Menzies 18, Harper Little 12, Allie Clevenger 7, Tessa Newman and Ashten Graff 6.
East Newton: Jaylen Hayward 16, Kanah Burkey 8, Koty Cooper 7, Kinsey Sorrell 5, Brynne Smith 3, Megan Sanders 2 and Kendra Hickman 1.
