After a big lead that lasted much of the game, the Waynesville Tigers needed it all as they had to hold on late to defeat the tenacious Marshfield Lady Jays 58-53 Monday evening.
With the Lady Jays down by as many as 20 points midway through the third quarter and trailing by 12 to begin the fourth, it is well-known that Marshfield has a never-give-up attitude that keeps them in nearly every game they play.
It showed again Monday night.
“It was just their intensity and not quitting,” said Waynesville head coach Brittany Matlock. “We got frustrated at times when something would break down occasionally. We had our head go down and that is just something that we can’t let happen. We just need to worry about what we can control and not worry about everything else but give Marshfield credit.”
Exchanging baskets in the first minute of the fourth quarter to make the score 52-40, Peyton Greenlee, Lillie Johns and the Lady Jays came surging back with an 11-0 run to pull within a point with just over three minutes remaining in the contest.
Johns got the rally started with a driving layup from the left side and added another bucket seconds later after Greenlee grabbed a defensive rebound and passed it up court to a wide-open Johns to get the Lady Jays to within eight points.
After another defensive stop by Marshfield, Greenlee demonstrated the Eurostep to perfection as she made another layup and got the foul call that pulled her team to within five points.
With Johns scoring two more of her 15 points moments later, freshman Alexis Moon forced a turnover at midcourt giving Greenlee yet another layup.
Suddenly, the Lady Jays found themselves down by only one.
After missing a shot with three minutes to go in the game that would have given Marshfield its first lead since 2-0 to begin the game, it appeared that the Lady Jays did take the lead with 2:21 left in the game after a basket by Greenlee. However, it was waved off in favor of a charge instead.
The Tigers would not give the Lady Jays another chance as junior Ashton Pilz and Re’Shawna Stone each made baskets to give the Tigers some breathing room.
“They made a run and came back,” said Matlock. “Obviously, we would have liked them not to, but Marshfield is a hard-nosed team, and we expected them not to quit. Fortunately, they made a run, and we were able to regroup and come out with a win. I did like the fight in our girls even after we kind of got frazzled a little bit. We were able to regroup and finish it out.”
Even though it had been a week since the Tigers last played, they were sharp early on as Stone and junior Nina Kizzee scored 15 of Waynesville’s 19 first quarter points.
“I thought defensively our girls executed the game plan,” Matlock said. “Obviously, we wanted to focus Greenlee and we did that, especially early on. Offensively, we wanted to really push the ball, and our guards were able to get inside the paint and were able to really step up.”
While the Lady Jays were able to stop the tandem from doing as much damage in the second and third quarters, the duo was still able to set up their teammates and keep the Lady Jays off-balance.
Stone finished the game with a game high 19 points, and Kizzee added 15. Greenlee led her team with 17 points, while Johns chipped in 15.
With the win, the Tigers improve to 8-3 on the season, while the Lady Jays fall to 6-6.
Next up, Waynesville travels to Glendale on Jan. 13. Marshfield hosts Republic on Jan. 14.
Waynesville 19 11 20 8—58
Marshfield 7 14 17 15—53
Waynesville – Re’Shawna Stone 19, Nina Kizzee 15, Kallie Bildner 10, Ashton Pilz 8, Kiara Shoulders 6
Marshfield – Peyton Greenlee 17, Lilly Johns 15, Katie French 10, Savanna Vance 6, Alexis Moon 5
