Springfield, Mo. (For OzarksSportsZone.com) -- The Camdenton Lady Lakers had a lukewarm start Thursday night at Parkview against the Lady Vikings, but pulled out the stops in the fourth quarter to come out ahead 57-48.
The young Camdenton team, including freshmen starters Bailey Rezabek and Alyssa Ripley, had trouble finding their shots in the first quarter. Parkview jumped out to a 7-0 lead.
“We’re very young, and that’s kind of how we’ve been all year long; we’d let a team get 16 points on us in the first quarter and then we’d calm down and realize that, ‘Hey, we can play ball,’” said Camdenton’s coach, Staci Caffey.
Parkview, by contrast, came ready to play and was quick to capitalize on their possessions. On a streak led by Aubrey Buckley in the first four minutes of play, the Vikings brought the score to 16-2, but gave up some points, including 7 in free throws, to end the quarter ahead 20-13.
“Our game plan was just to play pressure defense. We knew they were young and we wanted to put them in a stressful situation,” said Parkview’s coach, Keri Nichols.
Camdenton continued its fast-paced attacked into the second quarter and after halftime, slowly chipping away at the deficit.
Caffey said about the change in pace, “At halftime we realized we could play with these guys and that’s what we did.”
Going into the third, both teams’ defenses were starting to get into foul trouble, and Parkview especially had to let up with two of their starters, Buckley (who was also their leading scorer with 18 points) and Kianna McDaniel, at three fouls each.
The gap in the scores continued to narrow into the third as Rezabek picked up a 3-point-play. She led her team in shots for the game and was the second leading scorer overall with 13 points.
“Bailey Rezabek is a freshman, but she takes care of the ball,” said Caffey. “As a point guard, she does very well distributing the ball to her teammates… she’s just a solid player.”
Starting the fourth quarter, Parkview tried to slow the game down by taking more passes on each possession, but they were not able to turn those possessions into points.
To make matters worse, both Buckley and McDaniel fouled out about three minutes into the quarter, leaving the Parkview defense stripped of two of its most effective players. This gave Camdenton a good opportunity to challenge Parkview’s lead for the first time in the game.
A 3-pointer from Camdenton’s leading scorer, Whitney Snow (15 points), tied the game up, and another shot from downtown by Rezabek put them ahead. From there, Camdenton pulled out ahead and held onto the lead until the end.
The Lady Lakers would outscore PHS 20-8 in the fourth quarter.
Camdenton, now 12-4 this season, plays next at home in the Laker Shootout against Kansas City Central on January 26th. Parkview, 9-7, moves on to play at Joplin on the 28th.
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