By Kai Raymer (For OzarksSportsZone.com)
The Bradleyville Lady Eagles avoided another third-quarter lull by doing what they do best.
Force turnovers and play in the open court.
Bradleyville broke open a 29-all tie at halftime with a 13-1 run to begin the second half.
The Lady Eagles held off a late Wheatland rally to prevail 57-50 Saturday afternoon at Drury’s O’Reilly Family Event Center, in a matchup of 2018 Class 1 final four teams.
Bradleyville improved to 14-4 overall. Lady Eagles coach Autumn Thomas was encouraged with her team’s second-half start.
“We’ve had a tendency to not come out and play well in the third quarter,” Thomas said. “I said to them at halftime, ‘We can’t come out and have a hole we’ll have to dig out of.’
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“We got a few fast breaks, put the ball in the basket and things were working for us.”
Gracie Shipley, Emily Williams and Anna Turner scored 15 apiece for Bradleyville. Tay Sims added nine points and a game-high 16 rebounds from her point guard position.
“We’re really good about sharing the ball and passing the ball ahead,” Thomas said. “Those fastbreaks are what got us going. We needed that because we were playing real sluggish in the first half.”
Bradleyville led 43-30 before Wheatland made its first field goal of the second half.
“We were out of position a lot. We didn’t block out, didn’t put our body on anyone,” said Wheatland coach Jeremiah Bryan. “We were letting things we couldn’t control dictate how hard we played.
“We get our heads down, we struggle. We have our heads up, we can compete with really good teams.”
Bradleyville and Wheatland both reached the final four for the first time in their respective programs’ histories last season.
Saturday’s contest was part of the eight-game Missouri Sports Hall of Fame Basketball Classic at Drury.
“It was a good game for us and getting to play in this atmosphere was cool, too,” Thomas said. “It’s pretty cool for the girls to play in this.”
Madi Sutt scored a game-high 23 for Wheatland, which fell to 11-7 overall. The Mules have been battled-tested all season.
Check out the credentials of their other six losses: Weaubleau twice (receiving votes in Class 1 state poll), Walnut Grove (No. 1 in Class 1), Clever (No. 7 in Class 3), Camdenton (Class 5; 12-6 overall) and Fair Grove (18-2 overall; No. 6 in Class 3).
“Playing those teams will make you better in the long run,” Bryan said. “Last year, it did. This year, it’s a lot harder schedule. Whenever we get our confidence, that’s when we’ll be at our prime.”
Sutt’s runner with just over five minutes remaining brought Wheatland with 45-38. In the final two minutes, Bradleyville’s lead dwindled to just three on two occasions.
Bradleyville went 8-for-15 at the free throw line in the fourth quarter. The Lady Eagles made 6 of 7 free throw attempts through the first three quarters.
“I told them in the locker room afterwards, ‘It’s okay to slow the ball a little bit, but you still have to play your game in the fourth quarter. You have to score points in case they’re scoring on the other end,’” Thomas said. “We were ahead by 11, so we thought we’d slow it down a little bit and make them come out and guard us.”
Wheatland plays at Halfway on Tuesday night. Bradleyville, who has yet to lose to a Class 1 team this season, hosts Niangua on Monday night.
Bradleyville 57, Wheatland 50
Wheatland 19 10 5 16 — 50
Bradleyville 15 14 16 12 — 57
Wheatland (11-7) – Madi Sutt 23, Kennedy Griffin 11, Taylor Hunt 6, Heavenly Lewton 4, Samantha Schultz 4, Amaia Betolaza 2
Bradleyville (14-4) – Gracie Shipley 15, Emily Williams 15, Anna Turner 15, Tay Sims 9, Zoie Sims 2, Maddie Shipley 1
