Cassville rallies past Monett, 37-26

The Cassville Lady Wildcats basketball team overcame a hot start by Monett and rallied to win 37-26 on Feb. 4.

The Lady Cubs (1-20, 0-4) entered the contest having only hit 12 3-pointers all season. In the first period, Monett drained three triples, one each by Elizabeth Arnold, Faith Schmidt and Brooke McLean to take an 11-6 lead at the first break.

The first period proved to be the highlight of Monett's shooting for the evening.

The Lady Wildcats' extended their zone pressure, and Monett's shooting went cold from the floor.

The Lady Wildcats (11-11, 1-3) rallied in the second period and took a 16-15 edge into intermission.

The purple and gold played solid defense in the first 16 minutes holding Cassville scoring machine, Emily Speakman to only 4 points in the first half.

The black and gold remained focused in the third period. With Monett double-teaming Speakman, Cassville needed someone to step up.

Britani Long accepted the challenge, scoring on three consecutive trips down the floor to give the Lady Wildcats a 24-16 lead.

A free throw by Kelsey Wiseman and a layup by Arnold pulled Monett to within 24-19, but a basket by Speakman gave the home team a 26-19 lead after three periods.

Long, Speakman and Kelsey Baker scored for the Lady Wildcats to open the fourth quarter. Speakman's basket, with 3:56 left in the game, gave Cassville its largest lead of the game at 36-19.

The Lady Cubs tried to battle back with a basket by McLean and a trey by Schmidt, but it was too little, too late.

Scoring for Cassville: Long, 14 points; Speakman, 9; Sydney Curnes, 6; and Lindsay Nolan and Baker, 4 each.

Scoring for Monett: McLean, 7 points; Schmidt, 6; Arnold, 5; Jessica Harper, 4; Haylee Morris, 3; and Wiseman, 1.