By Derek Shore (For OzarksSportsZone.com)
Pierce City, Mo – Early-season miscues and growing pains are always a given in season-opening games.
On Monday, Cassville overcame turnover trouble to hold off Pierce City by a final of 36-30 thanks to an astute defense and timely scoring.
“Two things (was key to tonight’s win): our defensive effort and then the second thing they attempted 27 shots to our 15 in the first half,” Cassville head coach Chris Shore said. “We took six more shots in the second half because we limited our turnovers.
“The combination of not turning it over, getting shots and our defense were the two (keys).”
The Lady Eagles jumped out to an early 10-8 advantage in the first quarter before Cassville tied it up at 20-20 in the second.
As the halftime buzzer sounded, Kendyl Hayward and Belle Golubski accounted for 18 of Pierce City’s 20 points.
The Lady Eagles also held Missouri Southern commit Madi Stokes to only two points heading into the locker rooms.
“She’s the main thing on the scouting report,” Pierce City head coach Rob Guerin said. “Slowing down Madi Stokes. I thought we did a pretty good job of that. She’s a good player. We just knew we had to focus on her.”
After a shaky start in the first half and exchanging blows early in the third quarter, the Lady Wildcats flexed their defensive muscles, limiting the Pierce City to a combined 10 points in the second half.
Cassville showed signs of pulling away as Ashlynn Howe hit a triple with 30.1 seconds left in the third for their largest lead of the night at that point, making it 29-25.
As they entered the fourth and final frame, the Lady Wildcats got on the board first via a Madi Stokes layup with 4:30 left for a 31-25 lead. Pierce City countered with three points off two free throw attempts and a Leslie Jones putback to cut the lead down to 33-30.
With time quickly expiring, Cassville sophomore Madry McCrackin connected on a pair of two-point jumpers to seal the game.
“We hit some timely big shots with our guards,” Shore said. “I felt like we were so excited and once we started to tire a little bit – we started thinking a little better. We were so wild in the first quarter just from the excitement that we were just turning it over.
“Hallie hit a big three when we were down six in the first half. Ashlynn hit that three and Madry hit a couple of big shots.”
After a made free throw from Hallie Long, the Lady Wildcats claimed the season-opener, taking down the Lady Eagles 36-30.
“They hit the open shots,” Guerin said. “They got the open shots and hit it where ours wasn’t falling. We lost a little bit of legs and hit the front of the rim two or three times right off the bat when we had wide open looks. If you don’t hit shots, you don’t win ballgames.”
The difference in the game for Cassville was slight defensive adjustments at halftime on Hayward and Golubski, who managed a combined two points in the second half.
Scoring wise, Long led the way for the Lady Wildcats with 10 points. She was complemented by Stokes (eight), McCrackin (eight), Howe (eight), and Brooks and Turner with two apiece.
Although, Stokes dominated the game defensively with a whopping 13 rebounds and three blocks for Cassville.
Hayward and Golubski each put up 10 points for Pierce City. Ragan Blinzler followed with five points of her own while Jones had four points and Donielle Brottlund with one.
Cassville (1-0) will resume play against Exeter in the opening round of the Blue Eye Invitational on Tues., Nov. 28.
“Obviously, we need to do a better job of taking care of the ball,” Shore said. “I like we were at. Defensively, we’re better than we were last year. We need to take the same number of shots as our opponent or more because we shoot a high percentage. We just have to attempt more shots.”
Pierce City (0-1) returns to the hardwood as they host Wheaton on Mon., Dec. 4.
“We have high expectations,” Guerin said. “I saw a lot of good points (from tonight) and things we need to work on. Our offensive efficiency is definitely going to have to get better. We want to be better than what we were last year, so I think that’s just about every year. We are just looking to get better every game.”
