By Brennan Stebbins (For OzarksSportsZone.com)
A fourth quarter scoring burst by the Aurora girls basketball team turned a 3-point lead into a double-digit win as the Lady Houns rolled Cassville 40-21 on Saturday evening in the Class 4 District 12 championship game at Monett.
Aurora, which scored more points in the fourth than in the other three quarters combined, notched its third straight district title and hiked its winning streak over the Wildcats to nine games.
“It’s the first time obviously in school history because before these three there were only three (district titles) the entire 40-some years of girls basketball at Aurora,” head coach Jason Cole said. “It’s definitely an accomplishment these girls need to be proud of.”
Now 23-5, Aurora advances to the sectional round of the playoffs where it will play at Logan-Rogersville (23-5) on Tuesday on a rematch of last year’s 54-40 Lady Houns’ win.
Saturday’s first quarter set the tone for a low-scoring affair. Aurora made just one field goal, a 3-pointer by senior Alyssa Burch, but led 9-8 after eight minutes thanks to 6-for-6 shooting at the free throw line.
Cassville (20-8) tied the game on a free throw by sophomore Taylor Kennedy more than two minutes into the second, but Burch answered with another 3-pointer and then Aurora never relinquished its lead, with the Lady Houns defense holding Cassville scoreless for more than five minutes until the final minute of the half. Following a late 3 by Aurora junior Jaysa Ernest, Aurora led 17-12 at the break.
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“These games where we struggle shooting some at times, it just comes down to grit and our defense there,” Cole said. “The girls, we talked at halftime about when it’s ugly and there are things we’re struggling with. They did a good job defensively and we definitely had to do everything we could to take care of the ball and then defensively get stops.”
The teams opted for a draw in the third quarter. After a possession by each team, Aurora decided to hold the ball at a standstill and Cassville stayed back and didn’t force the ball to move. After standing for several minutes, Aurora tried to get off a shot in the final seconds, but the period ended without either team scoring a point.
The action resumed at the start of the fourth. Cassville cut it to 17-14 on a basket by sophomore Audrey Kennedy with 7:48 remaining, but Aurora’s Burch answered with yet another 3-pointer and from there the rout was on. Roughly three-and-a-half minutes later, Aurora led 31-17, and the Lady Houns scored 8 unanswered points in the final minute to ice it.
Aurora senior Makena Hall poured in all 9 of her points in the fourth quarter, despite exiting at one point with a bloody injury to her face. She returned to the game with a bandage and recorded a steal and layup in the final seconds. Senior Kylee Cole added 8 of her 10 points in the fourth, as well, including two 3-pointers.
Other Aurora scorers were Burch with 9 in the game, Ernest with 3, junior Brooke Blevins with 2 and senior Nadia Davis with 1.
Cassville was led by 10 points by Kennedy, 7 from freshman Alexandra Holycross, 2 from sophomore Avery Stokes and 1 apiece from junior Aubrey Stoufer and sophomore Taylor Kennedy.
“We just have to enjoy a hard-fought win tonight against a team that really wanted to come get us,” Cole said. “We’ve got a lot of wins in a row against them and they wanted to come get us. We’ve got a really, really tough road going to Rogersville on Tuesday. We’ve got to prep for them and once we enjoy it tonight we’ve got to get focused on them tomorrow and do everything we can to go and compete with them.”
