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By Dana Harding (For OzarksSportsZone.com)
Walnut Grove, Mo. — A third-quarter burst helped propel Class 1 No. 1 Walnut Grove to a 72-50 victory over No. 8 Hermitage Thursday evening.
Up 28-17 at the half, the Lady Tigers poured in 27 third-quarter points thanks to effective full-court pressure, transition offense and some key perimeter baskets.
After Walnut Grove got out to a slow start in the first half, reigning Class 1 Player of the Year Bayley Harman erupted in the third. The 5-foot-10 senior notched 13 points in the quarter.
“We usually either come up with a really big start or a slow start that switches up at halftime,” Harman said. “Once we know that we’re playing a bad game, Coach gives us a big pump-up speech, and we all get together and decide to get the momentum up and get ready to play at halftime, and that’s what we did.”
While Walnut Grove head coach Rory Henry has a slightly different interpretation of his halftime conversations, the end result was the same.
CLICK HERE FOR PHOTOS OF THE GAME
“They got chewed on a little bit at halftime, and they came out inspired in the second half and played a lot harder,” Henry said. “I feel like that’s what we’re capable of. We just have to do a better job at being focused and ready to go.”
Freshman Makayla McVay also produced a strong showing in the third quarter with 10 points and a pair of 3-pointers.
“We’ve got five or six kids that are capable of coming in and scoring at any point in time,” Henry said. “We know MaKayla can do that, and she did a good job hitting some big shots for us.”
Harman’s 25 points led all scorers in the contest. She was joined in double figures by a trio of freshman in Faith Gilkey (15), MaKayla McVay (14) and Lauren Johnson (10).
Facing staunch pressure the entire evening, Hermitage struggled to find its offensive rhythm. Senior playmakers Sheridan Corum and Sadi Hostettler found limited opportunities in the first half and scored just 9 points between them.
Corum finished with 19 points to lead the Hornets, while Hostettler added 15. Sophomore Makayla Hostettler also finished in double figures with 11 points.
Walnut Grove freshman Faith Gilkey was instrumental defensively, creating problems on the perimeter for the Hermitage ball-handlers. The 5-foot-5 guard talked about limiting touches among the Hornet playmakers.
“[Corum and Hostettler] go straight up with their left hand,” Gilkey said. “So, we were trying to force them right and try to get them to go the other way and make passes to other people. We didn’t really want the ball in their hands.”
With a top-heavy schedule including the likes of Ozark, Lebanon and Rogersville, Walnut Grove has seen its fair share of elite scorers this season. After the game, Henry stressed the importance of consistent play with districts just around the corner.
“I feel like we can play with anybody,” Henry said. “We put our best players on them and just talked about going to work, putting pressure on them and controlling tempo. We won, but I feel like we have to be better than that. We weren’t as sharp as we should have been tonight.”
Up next for Walnut Grove (21-2) is a rescheduled home game against Skyline on Saturday, Feb. 10, while Hermitage (20-3) visits Macks Creek on Monday, Feb. 12.
Varsity Final: Walnut Grove – 72, Hermitage – 50
Walnut Grove 14 14 27 17 — 72
Hermitage 08 09 12 21 — 50
Walnut Grove scoring: Bayley Harman – 25, Faith Gilkey – 15, MaKayla McVay – 14, Lauren Johnson – 10, Grace McPhail – 4, Grace Miller – 4
Hermitage scoring: Sheridan Corum – 19, Sadi Hostettler – 15, Makayla Hostettler – 11, Emily Christian – 3, Anna Ginnings – 1, Faith Sabala – 1
