By Dana Harding (For OzarksSportsZone.com)
SPRINGFIELD, MO – The past couple seasons have seen Marshfield and West Plains emerge as fierce rivals, thanks in part, to recent conference and district pairings.
Monday’s Pink & White semifinal round provided yet another thrilling chapter for the Ozark Mountain Conference members, as the Blue Jays outlasted the Zizzers 51-42 to advance to Tuesday’s Pink Division championship.
For Marshfield head coach Trish Marsh, the familiar matchup was both a blessing and a curse.
“It is easier because we know their personnel and we know what they’re going to do, but they also know us,” Marsh said. “I think it’s a good rivalry, and we match up very well with them.”
West Plains proved to be the early aggressor, with Gillian Green connecting early and often.
The 6-foot Zizzer sophomore scored 10 of her team-high 18 points in the first half to stake West Plains to a 24-23 halftime lead.
After watching West Plains connect on four 3-pointers in the first half, Marsh urged her team to do a better job defending the perimeter.
“I think the big thing that I challenged our team at halftime was to really get out, hands up, and make sure we didn’t allow threes,” Marsh said. “I think we did a very good job at that in the second half, because they get a lot of momentum when they hit those shots.”
The Blue Jays also benefitted from the duo of junior Peyton Ward and senior Quinn Aldridge.
CLICK HERE FOR PHOTOS OF THE GAME
The pair combined for all 17 of Marshfield’s points in the third quarter.
For Ward, in particular, the third quarter represented an offensive breakthrough after struggling to find the basket early in the game.
The 6-foot-2 Lindenwood commit finished with 21 points to lead all scorers.
“I just try to really play defense,” Ward said. “Because when I get stops on defense, it kind of gives me confidence on offense. I just keep shooting, hope it goes in and just trust in my shot.”
A Ward basket to open the fourth period stretched the Marshfield lead to 9 at 42-33; however, West Plains would rally.
Shaylee Peterson’s basket with 5:30 remaining cut the Blue Jay lead to just three, but the Zizzers were unable to get any closer.
With less than a minute remaining, a Ward 3-pointer pushed the lead to 10 points and set No. 2 Marshfield (11-1) on its way to a Tuesday matchup with No. 1 Strafford (8-1) in the championship round.
“They played in a lot of big games in their career,” Marsh said of her team’s ability to maintain composure. “We’ve got juniors and seniors who’ve been there, that have that experience and I think the big thing is you can’t get too high and you can’t get too low. You’ve got to play through adversity, and we’ve done a good job with that.”
CLICK HERE FOR VIDEO OF THE GAME
No. 3 West Plains (9-3) plays No. 4 Republic (5-2) in the third-place game.
PINK DIVISION SEMIFINAL: Marshfield – 51, West Plains – 42
West Plains 06 18 09 09 | 42
Marshfield 10 13 17 11 | 51
West Plains scoring: Gillian Green 18, Zoe Scharnhorst 6, Ainsley McWilliams 5, Shaylee Peterson 4, Delani Wahome 4, Lucy Hafer 3, Zoe Shrubb 2
Marshfield scoring: Peyton Ward 21, Quinn Aldridge 8, Izzy Cherne 6, Josie Desha 6, Kendyl Dolan 5, Miley Austin 3, Tilly Greenfield 2
