Mexico turned the ball over, Macon scored. Mexico turned the ball over, Macon scored. It’s a pattern that repeated on Saturday in the championship game of the Macon Tournament. Not at their best except for one quarter, the Bulldogs fell 63-40 to finish second in the weeklong event.

“We were just flat,” said Riley Blevins. “And they could not miss.”

It wasn’t Mexico’s night, and to Blevins’ observation, Macon was almost unerring in their offensive touch.

The Tigers were up 7-0 before Mya Miller added numbers next to the Bulldogs’ space on the scoreboard. And the hosts responded by going on an 11-0 run, broken only by a power move by Jordyn Thurman in the paint.

At the end of one it was 21-9. But the Bulldogs were able to gather themselves and show some scrap.

Taylor DeMint made it a 10-point game, driving from the wing. Macon’s Kate Hawkins answered, but Miller grabbed an offensive rebound, turned and hit the net.

Miller then stole the ball and made a power move, one on two, for a lay up. Abby Oetting dropped a three, Blevins forced her way into the lane for two and the Bulldogs were finally running.

DeMint sank two from the line just before the half to make it a more manageable 33-27 game.

“I think we had a shot,” Jordyn Thurman said. “We just weren’t rebounding.”

Not boxing out, making unforced errors, Mexico limped the rest of the way in uncharacteristic fashion. Macon demolished the Bulldogs in the third, padding 24 points to Mexico’s 8.

“We knew it wasn’t going to be an easy team to beat,” Miller noted. “We weren’t there mentally.”

The Tigers used a box and one to isolate Miller, singling out the Mexico star. Still, she hit for 10 points on the night. Blevins knocked down 11 and Jordyn Thurman 8 as the Bulldogs battled to keep pace.

DeMint and Riley Thurman scored 4 each, adding to Oetting’s 3.

Mexico is now 11-3 on the year, and with a clear idea of what lies ahead.

“I think it made us realize what we have to work on,” Jordyn Thurman said.

Mexico holds off Centralia

Perhaps the most significant play in Mexico’s grinding 63-50 win over Centralia on Wednesday night at the Macon Tournament was one that involved nothing more than standing motionless on the court.

It came with 1:21 left in the game and the Panthers slowly but steadily nipping away at the Bulldogs lead. With the score 59-49 and Centralia on the move again, Taylor DeMint fixed herself in the lane and held her ground as the Panthers’ Harper Sontheimer skied toward the rim.

DeMint had made mental notes throughout the game.

“I watched her on lay ups,” the Mexico guard said. “I saw the girls coming hard and I knew she wasn’t going to stop.”

Although the Bulldogs didn’t fully capitalize on the charging call, missing both free throws, it gave them possession and the ability to run more time off the clock.

Mexico’s defense allowed just one more point – a free throw by Elly Crum. Mya Miller scored off an in bound from Abby Oetting, adding a plus one from the line and DeMint sank a freebie to wrap things up.

Until that point the contest had been grueling for both sides. The Panthers took an early lead, which was finally broken late in the first when an Alexis Willer three-pointer put Mexico on top 13-12.

Riley Blevins made a strong baseline move and Miller hit to from the line to give the Bulldogs a slight cushion. But Centralia’s Claire Bennett backed into the paint for two to make it a 3-point game.

And that’s the way it went. Miller scored on a lay up, Crum responded. Crum banked one off the glass, Riley Blevins answered with a three.

“They were aggressive the whole game,” Miller observed. “Our defense was the biggest thing.”

The Panthers are stocked with shooters who can connect from beyond the arc. But Mexico’s defense allowed just one three until the fourth quarter. In the second half Bulldogs head coach Ed Costley decided to lean on that defense by slowing down his usually fast-paced offense.

“It was risky,” Costley said of the tactic. “But they may be one of the most athletic teams we’ve played.”

The Bulldogs edged away, gaining a 51-29 advantage at the end of three, thanks to a put back by Jordyn Thurman and a couple of charity tosses by Riley Thurman.

“That competitive nature kicked in,” Blevins said.

It was enough to give Mexico the eventual win.

Miller led all scorers with 26. Blevins put up 14 and Riley Thurman 11. Willer sank a pair of threes, DeMint notched 3 and Jordyn Thurman 2.

Jozelynn Bostick was a force in the second half and put 21 on the board for Centralia. Bennett scored 8 and Crum 7, with Morgan Ross adding 5. Sontheimer and Baylee Beard put up 4 each.