Neosho girls finish sixth, Seneca seventh at Neosho Holiday Classic
Dec. 29—NEOSHO, Mo. — The Neosho Wildcats girls basketball team had fewer than half the shot attempts as their opponent, Huntsville, Arkansas, and fell 52-23 in their fifth-place game to the Eagles at the Neosho Holiday Classic on Friday at Neosho Junior High School.
The Wildcats fell behind 13-5 in the first quarter, making good on two of six attempts, while Huntsville was 5-15 in the opening period. Neosho rallied back to within 3 points at 16-13 with a little more than three minutes left in the half, but Huntsville outscored Neosho 5-2 to close out the half with a 21-15 lead.
The Eagles (6-11) did the most damage to Neosho in the third period, outscoring the Wildcats 15-2. Huntsville went on a 13-0 run to open the second half and led by 19 at one point, 34-15, before Neosho's Hayleigh Smith hit a short jumper to end a more than 6 1/2-minute scoring drought for the Wildcats.
Smith's bucket was the lone Neosho score in the third quarter and the Eagles entered the final period with a 36-17 cushion. That lead ballooned to 27 off a Kristyn Miller score for Huntsville that put the Eagles up 46-19 with 4:53 remaining.
Huntsville outscored the Wildcats 6-4 down the stretch to claim the win.
Courtney Thomason led the Wildcats with 10 points, and Smith chipped in 7. Thomason recorded two steals, and Quinyn Depoe had six rebounds.
Huntsille's Carley Siler netted a game-high 12 points, while Maggie Richie and Brooklin McCartney had 10 each.
Neosho (5-6) had 27 turnovers for the second straight game.
Next up for Neosho is a Jan. 11 game at Willard.
Seneca 47, Memphis Hillcrest 38
The Seneca Indians girls basketball team went home with a win in its pocket after beating the Memphis Hillcrest Vikings 47-38 in their seventh-place game, despite a 27-point performance by Hillcrest's Justice Dunlap.
Hillcrest (5-7) led 11-6 after the first period, but the Indians defense closed the door on Hillcrest, giving up just 2 points to the Vikings while netting 12 to take an 18-13 lead into the locker room at halftime.
Seneca (2-9) stayed on top of the Vikings, outscoring their opponent 17-13 in the third quarter to take a 35-26 lead into the final frame. The teams played even ball, each scoring 12 points in the final quarter as Seneca logged its second win of the season with the 47-38 victory.
Daelynd Campbell and Olivia Haase each scored 15 points for the Indians, while Ashtyn Lannon chipped in 9.
Haase recorded four steals, and Campbell had three. The Indians won the battle of the boards, outrebounding Hillcrest 58-29, and Seneca's defense held Hillcrest to 18.5% shooting, giving up just 10 buckets on 54 attempts.
Dunlap's 27 points were tops for Hillcrest. Lakeirra Hall added 10 points for the Vikings.
Up next for Seneca is a home game against Joplin (3-7) on Thursday.
