By Amanda Perkins
Mountain Grove, MO – The Mountain Grove Lady Panthers are off to a hot start following a one-win season, now sitting at 3-0 following their 57-27 victory over the Sparta Lady Trojans.
The teams opened the game each looking flat and struggling to score, but the Lady Panthers quickly picked up the pace.
“We started out a little rough, but we got better as the game went on,” said Mtn. Grove coach Vallie Hoerning. “We started executing a lot better in the second half and we picked up our defensive intensity and started rebounding.”
The host team drew fouls and capitalized on turnovers in the first quarter, outscoring Sparta 21-7.
The Lady Trojans made a comeback in the second quarter, bringing the score within four points late in the frame. Liz Yeager and Maggie Brown each connected from behind the arc, and Kamryn Gilley was a spark off the bench for the team. “(Gilley) played really hard on defense,” said Sparta head coach Josh Loveland. “She got some steals and a lay-up and gave us some energy. That’s what helped us with our big second quarter.” Sparta entered the locker room trailing by 9.
The second half was a different story, as the Lady Panthers controlled the board and held their opponents to just five total points. “You could tell on the scoreboard the difference in our rebounding,” said Coach Hoerning. “It was a good team effort. We’ve been really proud to have five different kids so far have double figures in three games, so hopefully our opponent can’t key in on a single kid. All of our kids can shoot, so we encourage them to take the open shot.”
Coach Loveland said his team lost their fight in the second half. “Defensively, we let them get some open shots in the high post area,” he said. “We made some adjustments in the second quarter and got back in it, but our energy wasn’t very good in the third quarter and we didn’t play very hard and let them get away from us.”
Mackenzie Gardner led all scorers with 17. Also scoring for the Lady Panthers: Rachel Loughridge, 12; Makenzie Berry, 8; Tommi Gardner, 8; Kacey Watson, 6; Ashton Albrecht, 4; and Kinley Collins, 2.
For Sparta, Tiffany Lafferty had 6 points, Kamryn Gilley and Maggie Brown each added 5, Jadrian Hyatt, 4, Liz Yeager, 3, and Alyssa Diers and Genesis McTeer each scored 2.
The Lady Trojans face Wheaton next Friday, and the Lady Panthers open the Norwood Tournament against Plato next week. “We’re really excited we’re going in 3-0,” said Coach Hoerning.
