By Matt Turer — @MattTurer (For OzarksSportsZone.com)
NIXA, Mo. — The shots weren’t falling for Skyline in the first half.
But in the end, it just came down to defense. And patience.
After one of the coldest shooting nights of the season in the first three quarters for the one-loss Tigers, and after trailing by eight points entering the fourth quarter, Skyline got hot.
The Tigers (17-1) erased an eight-point fourth-quarter deficit in under 3.5 minutes, beating Nixa 48-44 behind 17 points by Autumn Garrett and 14 from Kaylee DaMitz.
“Nixa did a heck of a job,” Skyline coach Kevin Cheek said. “We were trying to find people to score. I told the kids at halftime that we’re not playing bad, we’re just not shooting very well.”
The game’s biggest buckets came from freshman Keelie Holmes. Holmes first put Skyline up 41-40 with 4:38 to play on a transition basket. Then after over two minutes of scoreless basketball connected on a corner 3 to give the Tigers a 44-40 lead.
Halley Wiggins finished with an 11-point, 12-rebound double-double for Nixa (12-6). Emily Edwards also put up 11 but was held scoreless in the fourth.
“I’d like to say that defensively, we’re probably playing as well as we’ve played,” Cheek said.
“There were kids flying around in the half-court set. It’s almost February, and when it’s February, you have to get stops in the half-court set.”
Nixa led for over 25 minutes of game time. Skyline didn’t see its first lead until the 4:55 mark of the second quarter. After four lead changes in the second, Nixa went up 17-16 with 2:30 left in the first half and held that lead until Holmes’ go-ahead bucket with 4:38 left in the game.
CLICK HERE FOR PHOTOS OF THE GAME
The Eagles led by at least six for the final five minutes of the third quarter and held four different eight-point leads.
A pair of 3s by Garrett and DaMitz in the first 2:15 of the fourth quarter put the Eagles on their heels.
“We did exactly what we wanted for three quarters, and that lack of mental and emotional toughness is what took us out of it in the fourth quarter,” Nixa coach Jennifer Perryman said.
EARLY ROAD STRUGGLES
Skyline came out cold and connected on just two of 10 shots in the first quarter. That stretch mostly continued into halftime with the Tigers shooting 2-of-11 from 3 and 7-of-23 from the floor.
“For the first time tonight I saw a couple kids not wanting to shoot the basketball,” Cheek said. “We missed some early and lost some confidence.”
The Tigers finished the game 15-of-46 from the floor.
A WAKE-UP MOMENT FOR NIXA
Perryman called the loss a “come to Jesus” moment for the Eagles, who spent nearly 30 minutes in the locker room after the game.
“Over the last couple weeks we’ve kind of lost our identity, and it’s cost us some games” Perryman said. “We pride ourselves on being a well-balanced team. Everybody has a specific role, and that’s what set us up for success, and we’ve kind of abandoned that lately. What’s so good about tonight is they realize it now. They realize that this isn’t who we are.”
The Eagles opened the season 10-1 but have lost five of seven since, starting with a 58-44 loss to Skyline in the Pink & White Tournament semifinals.
Perryman thinks Monday’s loss may be the moment the Eagles needed to get back on track.
“Even though it didn’t go our way in the end, and we made some big mistakes in the fourth quarter, what happened in the locker room after is going to right the ship,” Perryman said. “If that’s what it takes to be proud of ourselves and our team and our program, then I’ll take the loss.”
UP NEXT
Skyline: The Tigers host Stockton next, but the Mid-Lakes road gets tough after that with a visit to Clever on Jan. 29 and a home matchup with Fair Grove on Feb. 1.
Nixa: The Eagles travel to Sullivan on Thursday before a trio of big COC matchups starting with Branson at home on Jan. 29 and followed by road trips to Ozark on Feb. 1 and Carl Junction on Feb. 8.
SCORING
Skyline 7-12-11-18 — 48
Nixa 10-12-16-6 — 44
