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On Thursday, three area girls’ basketball teams took the floor in a summer league hosted by Neosho High School and Crowder College.
In the first game, the Lady Cats of Neosho took on Bentonville, Ark.
Bentonville jumped out to an 8-0 run early. However, Neosho responded with a 6-0 run to get back within two. In the second half, Bentonville’s depth and athleticism got the better of the Lady Cats as the visitors came out with a 27-13 win.
In the next game, Neosho took on Central Ozark Conference rival Carthage. Behind some key contributions from underclassmen, including a late 3-pointer by Chelsey Henry, and nifty point guard play from Ashley Gilion, the Lady Cats topped Carthage 18-14.
“We’re relatively young,” Neosho coach Lance Robbins said after his team’s split. “We’re learning, we’re playing hard and that’s the biggest thing in the summer is to play hard and get better. Today we played a very good Bentonville team and played them close for a while and just had trouble scoring late and then we beat Carthage which is a good basketball team, so I’m very proud of the way they played.”
Robbins actually is the one who organized the summer league this year after Webb City decided not to do it again.
“I wanted the opportunity for our girls to play at least once a week,” Robbins explained. “So we decided to have it here. Last year there were only four or five teams, this year with junior varsity and varsity combined we’ve got 12 to 15 teams playing. It’s just a good opportunity for our girls to get in the gym and play basketball.”
Meanwhile, at Crowder College, McDonald County was busy defeating Webb City in their first game of the night.
“We shot the ball well,” Lady Mustangs coach LaDonna McClain said of her team’s effort against Webb City. “We shot it better than we did in the second game. Defensively, we looked better than we did last week.”
East Newton then took the floor against Bentonville. Like Neosho, the Lady Patriots hung in with Bentonville for a while behind good 3-point shooting from Hailey Heilig. However, in the end, Bentonville went on a run and defeated East Newton by a final score of 33-12.
“In the summer our whole goal is to play hard while we’re out there and get used to playing together,” East Newton coach Marty Rinehart said. “Bentonville is awfully good, so it was a good way to start off the night. I thought we did a good job competing with them for a while and then we got a little lackadaisical at the end. But it’s the summer, we’re just trying to work hard and get better.”
On Thursday, three area girls’ basketball teams took the floor in a summer league hosted by Neosho High School and Crowder College.
In the first game, the Lady Cats of Neosho took on Bentonville, Ark.
Bentonville jumped out to an 8-0 run early. However, Neosho responded with a 6-0 run to get back within two. In the second half, Bentonville’s depth and athleticism got the better of the Lady Cats as the visitors came out with a 27-13 win.
In the next game, Neosho took on Central Ozark Conference rival Carthage. Behind some key contributions from underclassmen, including a late 3-pointer by Chelsey Henry, and nifty point guard play from Ashley Gilion, the Lady Cats topped Carthage 18-14.
“We’re relatively young,” Neosho coach Lance Robbins said after his team’s split. “We’re learning, we’re playing hard and that’s the biggest thing in the summer is to play hard and get better. Today we played a very good Bentonville team and played them close for a while and just had trouble scoring late and then we beat Carthage which is a good basketball team, so I’m very proud of the way they played.”
Robbins actually is the one who organized the summer league this year after Webb City decided not to do it again.
“I wanted the opportunity for our girls to play at least once a week,” Robbins explained. “So we decided to have it here. Last year there were only four or five teams, this year with junior varsity and varsity combined we’ve got 12 to 15 teams playing. It’s just a good opportunity for our girls to get in the gym and play basketball.”
Meanwhile, at Crowder College, McDonald County was busy defeating Webb City in their first game of the night.
“We shot the ball well,” Lady Mustangs coach LaDonna McClain said of her team’s effort against Webb City. “We shot it better than we did in the second game. Defensively, we looked better than we did last week.”
East Newton then took the floor against Bentonville. Like Neosho, the Lady Patriots hung in with Bentonville for a while behind good 3-point shooting from Hailey Heilig. However, in the end, Bentonville went on a run and defeated East Newton by a final score of 33-12.
“In the summer our whole goal is to play hard while we’re out there and get used to playing together,” East Newton coach Marty Rinehart said. “Bentonville is awfully good, so it was a good way to start off the night. I thought we did a good job competing with them for a while and then we got a little lackadaisical at the end. But it’s the summer, we’re just trying to work hard and get better.”
In the final game of the night, East Newton took on the Lady Mustangs. Heilig had the hot hand offensively for East Newton and led them to an early advantage. However, McDonald County fought back to make it a game early in the second half as East Newton had trouble keeping the Lady Mustangs off of the free throw line. Unfortunately for McDonald County, they couldn’t complete the comeback as East Newton took the finale 23-20.
“We’re making gains,” McClain said. “We’ve got some young players that are filling critical roles, we’ve got a freshman post player and a lot of sophomores are going to vie for several positions. We just don’t have everything in yet. I think my expectations are probably higher than they should be.”
The coaches all agreed that the important thing, more important than the final score, is getting the team together so that they can hit the ground running when the season begins.
“I think it’s huge,” McClain said of the summer league’s benefit. “It gives you a chance to see your team before you take the floor in November and as a coach it’s extremely helpful because you get to see some kids and see what they can do and what some kids can’t. Just getting your basketball feet under you, it’s been so long since we’ve played, I think is big.”
After a season that saw him coaching one of the youngest teams in the area, Rinehart realizes how valuable the experience is that the younger players gain in the month of June.
“We really worked at commitment and this is kind of our second season where we can gain strength and gain confidence going into the school year,” Rinehart said. “It’s also a good time to work on individual skill work, we’ve got some freshmen that we think can come in and play and we have a kid playing that didn’t play last year. So it’s a great time for them to mesh and get that experience, get rid of those butterflies a little bit.”
Games will be played every Thursday until the end of the month at Neosho High School, Neosho Junior High School and Crowder College.
