By Dana Harding (For OzarksSportsZone.com)
Springfield, Mo. — After suffering a pair of losses over the holiday due to slow starts, Neosho head coach Grant Berendt had a simple message for his team heading into Tuesday night’s game at Central.
Just bring it.
“What we’ve struggled with is getting out to quick starts,” Berendt said. “And this place just provides an extra aura of something. I told our kids, ‘You have never been to The Pit, and you’ve got to get out to a quick start and set the tone of what we want to do.’”
Neosho responded with a commanding, 23-5 run in the first quarter that helped propel the Lady Wildcats to a 59-37 victory at James Ball Gymnasium.
Neosho’s early success was due in part to a smothering full-court press that caused all sorts of problems for Central’s ball-handlers.
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“It’s ball press,” Berendt said. “It’s something we tried to put in my very first year here, and we’ve gotten a little bit better at it each year. We just ended a Christmas tournament where we played some really good teams out of Arkansas, and we didn’t get off to the best starts. That was the key — jumping out to that quick start and getting some confidence away from our home court.”
Neosho forward Makayla Hayes paced the Lady Wildcat attack early on, scoring 9 of her game-high 18 points in the first quarter.
“Makayla is definitely capable of scoring,” Berendt said. “In her last five games, she’s averaged 18-20, and she can score a variety of ways. For us, she plays a post position at times, but at the next level, they’re recruiting her to be more of a 3-guard because she can both shoot and post up, if needed.”
Hayes, a 5-foot-8 senior, echoed Berendt’s thoughts on getting out to early starts and attributed the team’s success to proper game-planning.
“We all had a goal tonight,” Hayes said. “We all were keyed into the same things, and I think that helps me, just knowing what’s going on and being able to play defense with good rotations and get good shots for us on offense.”
While Hayes set the early tone, Neosho featured a balanced attack with three players in double figures on the evening.
Seniors Allison Burr and Caitlyn Jordon added 15 and 11 points, respectively, for the Lady Wildcats.
Central was led by Makalya Brooks with 16 points. The freshman guard connected on four deep 3-pointers to pace the Lady Bulldogs.
“We did a good job contesting Brooks in the beginning,” Berendt said. “And she got going when she hit one late from the volleyball line. It’s a good thing she’s not a senior yet, because when she’s a senior, she’ll be pulling up in this gym from that center circle.”
Up next for Neosho (7-3) is a home clash with Webb City on Monday, Jan. 8. Central (6-6) gets a quick turnaround, traveling to Camdenton on Thursday, Jan. 4.
Varsity Final: Neosho – 59, Central – 37
Neosho 23 15 10 11 — 59
Central 05 10 07 15 — 37
Neosho scoring: Makayla Hayes – 18, Allison Burr – 15, Caitlyn Jordon – 11, Madison Flynn – 7, Ashley Talley – 5, Gabee Rainwater – 2, Tori Frazier – 1
Central scoring: Makalya Brooks – 16, Dasia Pence – 7, Ahislyn Padron – 6, Tabitha Tate – 4, Kailey McMeekin – 2, Cia Taylor – 2
JV Final: Neosho – 51, Central – 18
(Mary Dunbar- 16 points)
