By Denise Tucker (For OzarksSportsZone.com)
It wasn’t pretty, as far as the defending Class 3 state champions were concerned, but the El Dorado Springs Lady Bulldogs took care of business Tuesday afternoon by defeating Parkview 66-48 in a first-round White Division game at Drury’s O’Reilly Family Event Center.
“I didn’t feel like we played our best game defensively, and we kind of pride ourselves on that,” El Dorado Springs coach Beau Swopes (Class 3 Coach of the Year) said. “Parkview did a great job of just continuing to attack and they had girls step up and hit some shots that we hadn’t seen on film. They really played a good game.
“Defensively, they kind of stepped it up and came and played a little bit; kind of stopped some of the things that we were able to get early on. You’re going to get that in this tournament. Everyone’s got to play every single night. So, it’s a great experience to go out there and get a win tonight, and Parkview played really well.”
The Lady Bulldogs, who improved to 7-2, opened up a 10-point lead after the first quarter and were able to maintain and add to that lead, mostly on the shoulders of all-state senior Macie Mays.
The 5-foot-10 guard scored a game-high 29 points and pulled down five rebounds. She echoed her coach’s sentiments about the Lady Bulldogs’ performance on Tuesday.
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“I definitely think it wasn’t our best game, individually and collectively,” Macie Mays said. “It was our first game come back from Christmas, but I don’t think we want to use that as an excuse. I think we’re definitely trying to get in the flow again. Defensively, I don’t think we were where we want to be. But overall, I’m just glad we got the win and we can move on to tomorrow.”
Most of Macie Mays’ points came on drives to the basket and on her teammates’ finding her cutting to the bucket.
“Macie, offensively, she’s going to give us a lot every single night,” Swopes said. “She does a great job of getting to the basket. She probably didn’t shoot the ball as well from the outside as normal, but she did a great job. And then the other girls stepped up and hit some shots.
“We’re starting to get a few more statistics out of our sophomore class than what we did last year. They were kind of like that group that would come in and play some defense and do some of the little things. But they’re starting to hit some shots and they’re starting to play pretty well, so we’re pretty excited about where we’re at right now.”
The Lady Vikings (3-4) were led by junior Austin Hall’s 19 points. They also had five other players contribute on the offensive end.
“My kids always play really hard,” Parkview coach Keri Nichols said. “They don’t ever give up, no matter what the situation. That’s one thing I’m super proud of them about.
CLICK HERE FOR PHOTOS OF THE GAME
“It’s always hard. You come in, you’re playing different people in a different situation. El Dorado Springs is a great team – they’re ranked No. 1 in the state – and we knew it was going to be a battle. The Mays girl is a great player that we didn’t have an answer for tonight.
“I told the kids I didn’t feel like we lost this game on the offensive end. I felt we lost it on the defensive end. I also said the beauty of it is everything that we did wrong is fixable and we can just take this and get better.
“We always talk about what is our end goal. We want to be the best team we can be in March. So, we put ourselves in tough situations now, and this tournament is a tough tournament from top to bottom. We knew that, and when we saw the draw, we knew it was going to be a tough game. But we’re going to take the opportunity to play and get better every chance we can.”
El Dorado Springs will face #1 Grain Valley at 6:30 p.m., Wednesday, at Drury’s O’Reilly Family Event Center in the White Division winners’ bracket quarterfinals. Parkview will meet Clever in the consolation bracket quarterfinals at 6:30 p.m., today at Kickapoo High School.
#8 EL DORADO SPRINGS 66, PARKVIEW 48Â
Pink and White Lady Classic
White Division first-round game
At O’Reilly Family Event Center
PARKVIEW 13-12-12-11—48
EL DORADO SPRINGS 23-16-20-7—66
PARKVIEW (3-4) – Tara Masten 7, Aeriana Rhine 6, Jestiny Worley 2, Austin Hall 19, Leah Reichert 8, Brooklynn Masten 6.
#8 El Dorado Springs (7-2) – Tenlie Steward 5, McKinli Mays 5, Macie Mays 29, Neely Schaaf 11, Alexa Collins 10, AbiGayle Schmitt 6.
Up next: White Division (winners’ bracket quarterfinals) #8 El Dorado Springs vs. #1 Grain Valley, 6:30 p.m., Wednesday, O’Reilly Family Event Center; (consolation bracket quarterfinals) Parkview vs. Clever, 6:30 p.m., Wednesday, Kickapoo High SchoolÂ
