Brunson, Holesapple pace West Plains to 49-45 victory over Ozark

4f1a8666-6

By Dana Harding (For OzarksSportsZone.com)

Ozark, Mo. — Alli Holesapple’s career-high couldn’t have come at a better time for West Plains.

With Ozark’s defense focused on slowing down all-state junior MacKenzie Brunson, Holesapple was able to capitalize on repeated opportunities to help propel the Lady Zizzers to a 49-45 victory Thursday night.

Brunson and Holesapple scored 14 and 13 points, respectively, to lead West Plains.

The 5-foot-9 senior was quick to credit her do-everything teammate for creating space and opportunities.

“[Ozark] really just kind of overplayed a lot,” Holesapple said. “And so, the back doors were open a lot, and we were just able to get those cuts open underneath.”

West Plains head coach Scott Womack attributed his team’s open looks to patience and persistence.

“Offensively, I thought we were really patient,” Womack said. “We ran our offense and got some good looks on some backdoor cuts. Our girls kept moving, and I’m really proud of them for a team effort.”

Brunson and Holesapple helped provided an effective punch at the offensive end of the court; however, the Lady Zizzers’ defense made an even bigger impact.

CLICK HERE FOR PHOTOS OF THE GAME

While Ozark converted ten 3-pointers on the evening, West Plains was extremely effective at tracking down perimeter misses and limiting second-chance opportunities.

“I thought, defensively, we just really locked them down,” Womack said. “[Ozark] has some great 3-point shooters, and we knew that coming in. They got five in the first half and probably hit five in the second half, but I just thought that we really made them work for every shot, and I thought we rebounded really well.”

With momentum at a premium, neither team was able to carve out any sort of breathing room in the first half. The score was tied at 11 after the first quarter and at 21 heading into the break.

A Madi Braden 3-pointer gave Ozark a 24-21 lead early in the second half, but the Lady Tigers were unable to hold it.

Midway through the third quarter, a 6-0 run from West Plains put the visitors up for good as the Lady Tigers struggled to convert attempts against Womack’s pesky match-up zone.

Like her coach, Brunson attributed the second-half success to defensive execution.

“It’s all going through my head,” Brunson said. “I was, like, we just have to play defense. Defense wins games — defense turns to offense — and I had my teammates there to back me up with it, too.”

West Plains led by as many as eight points in the fourth; however, Ozark would rally on the emerging strength of its perimeter game.

Back-to-back 3-pointers from junior Anna Hitt cut the lead to just two at 42-40 with just under four minutes remaining.

With the Lady Tigers poised for a breakthrough, West Plains turned back to Holesapple.

The senior delivered in spades.

During a pivotal sequence, Holesapple scored four-straight points — a basket and a pair of free throws — to stretch the Lady Zizzer lead to six at 46-40 with 2:00 to play.

Womack praised his senior for stepping up in a big moment to help close out the game.

“That was Allie Holesapple’s career high at the varsity level,” Womack said. “She came through for us, and she’s just kind of a quiet girl, there. I think people concentrate on some of our other players knowing that they’re big, big scorers, and she’s kind of sneaky and finds ways of getting to the basket, and that’s what we need from her.”

For Ozark head coach David Brewer, poor execution at both ends of the court played a pivotal role in the team’s loss — particularly at the free-throw line.

“We shot four free throws and made one of them,” Brewer said. “[West Plains] was 13-for-19, so they outscored us 12 points at the free-throw line — that’s not going to work.”

Unfortunately for the Lady Tigers, holiday lulls have become an all-too-familiar occurrence, and Brewer hopes the loss serves as a wake-up call prior to next week’s tournament games.

“We’ve had problems at Christmas time the last four years,” Brewer said. “Once the bracket gets here, we’ve not played well. We’ve won this game three or four years in a row, but the game’s always been a week earlier. Now we’re on break. The kids aren’t in school, and we don’t play well. It’s just a matter of frustration at this point.”

Senior Olivia Hanks scored 12 points on four 3-pointers to lead the Lady Tigers.

Both teams are set to participate in the Pink & White Tournament, which tips off Thursday, Dec. 26, at Drury University. West Plains (7-0) takes on Aurora in the Pink Division opening round, while Ozark (6-2) faces Marshfield in the White Division opener.

Varsity Final: West Plains – 49, Ozark – 45

West Plains 11 10 15 13 — 49
Ozark 11 10 10 14 — 45

West Plains scoring: MacKenzie Brunson – 14, Alli Holesapple – 13, Bre Harlan – 8, Cassidy Cunningham – 7

Ozark scoring: Olivia Hanks – 12, Moriah Putt – 10, Madi Braden – 8, Anna Hitt – 6, Katie Mayes – 6, Lyla Watson – 3

Frosh Final: Ozark – 40, West Plains – 35
JV Final: Ozark – 33, West Plains – 25

Related Posts

Loading...