By Dana Harding (For OzarksSportsZone.com)
Nixa, Mo. — While Miranda Quennoz might not be the loudest player on the court, her performance Monday night was certainly deafening.
The Skyline sophomore poured in a game-high 28 points in a 56-53 victory over Nixa.
Lady Tigers head coach Kevin Cheek praised Quennoz’s performance and continued development.
“Miranda’s pretty quiet,” Cheek said. “We’ve been on her about talking and being a leader, but a lot of what she does is by example. She just hasn’t run it enough. She’s played a lot of basketball but not at the level she’s having to run it now.”
Quennoz went to work early, scoring 11 of her 28 points — including a trio of 3-pointers — in the second quarter.
While the 5-foot-6 guard did most of her damage from the perimeter, teammates Justine Barb and Emma Crawford were just as effective slashing to the basket.
Barb and Crawford joined Quennoz in double figures with 13 and 11 points, respectively.
“We’ve struggled lately on keeping our consistency and being aggressive,” Quennoz said. “We really wanted to come out, work together as a team and be more aggressive to the basket. We’re a lot smaller than most teams, so we kind of have to attack it that way to get the outcome that we did.”
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Another key for the undersized Lady Tigers this season has been team rebounding.
With only a single player above 5-foot-8 on the roster, rebounding efforts can often make or break the team’s chances.
“We understand that we have to rebound the basketball to win,” Cheek said. “Our kids — they have a lot of grit to them. When you have kids like that, you can get them talked into doing a lot of different things.”
Skyline led for much of the game; however, the margin never stretched beyond two possessions, and the Lady Tigers entered the final period nursing a 38-34 advantage.
While Nixa would rally in the fourth, Skyline converted 7 of 8 free throws in the quarter to turn back the late comeback attempt.
Once again, Quennoz proved to be a difference-maker in the final period, helping to seal the victory with another 11 points and a perfect 6-for-6 from the free-throw line.
The uncanny ability to score points in bunches — particularly in big spots — draw comparisons to former Skyline standout and 2017 Class 2 Player of the Year, Kaylee DaMitz.
While Quennoz is still in the early stages of her high school career, Cheek sees some similarities between the two playmakers.
“They’re similar in what they’re looking for, but the way they get it done is a lot different,” Cheek said. “[Miranda] probably shoots it off the dribble better than Kaylee did, but only because Kaylee was so explosive going to the rim.”
For Nixa, Monday’s outcome marks the fourth loss in five days for a battle-weary Lady Eagles squad.
Despite the outcome, head coach Jennifer Perryman was pleased with her team’s effort and believes its chemistry and determination will eventually pay dividends in the win column.
“Most teams that are struggling to win on the scoreboard — the way we are — don’t stick together like our team has, and I think that’s really special,” Perryman said. “Lately, when we give really good effort, our execution may not be where it should be, and then when our execution is where it should be, our effort’s not where it should be. It always seems to be one quarter that we’re struggling with, and so we’re trying to put all those pieces together — I still believe that when we do, good things are going to happen.”
Gabby Nielsen led the Lady Eagles with 17 points. She was joined in double figures by Ali Kamies, who added 10.
Both teams are back in action Thursday, Jan. 30. Skyline (10-6) hosts Stockton, while Nixa (6-9) visits Glendale.
Varsity Final: Skyline – 56, Nixa – 53
Skyline 12 16 10 18 — 56
Nixa 11 14 09 19 — 53
Skyline scoring: Miranda Quennoz – 28, Justine Barb – 13, Emma Crawford – 11, Allison Nothnagel – 3, Emily Edwards – 1
Nixa scoring: Gabby Nielson – 17, Ali Kamies – 10, Rhianna Gibbons – 8, Addy Weaver – 6, Emma Vincent – 5, Katie Kamies – 4, Tori Yantis – 2, Kenzie Hines – 1
JV Final: Nixa – 46, Skyline – 31 (Alison Jones – 15)
