The North Callaway girls’ start and finish weren’t as strong as Clopton’s on Thursday night.

After falling behind 22-14 after one quarter and by as much as 12 points in the second quarter, the Ladybirds eventually took a four-point lead before allowing 24 points in the fourth quarter to lose 72-68 to their Eastern Missouri Conference foe at home. North Callaway had five score in double figures for the first time this season.

Head coach Andrew Klein said Clopton (11-4,  4-0 EMO) was making shots early that he hadn’t seen them make on film and that the Lady Hawks, who started two freshmen and two sophomores, are a good team rather than just a good young team. Tinleigh Spoonster took over early for Clopton by hitting four of her first five shots, including three 3-pointers, to eventually finish with 14 points and then Ashlyn Noah had a game-high 18 points, Braya Smith had 13 points and Campbell Lindsay finished with 12 points.

North Callaway (10-6, 3-2 EMO) had 15 points each from Natalie Shryock and Lakyn Hartley, who also had a respective six and seven rebounds, and Hartley had five assists. Kymorie Myers had a career-high 13 points along with five rebounds, Abrielle Burgher finished with 12 points and Riley Blevins had 11 points along with matching Shryock with three 3-pointers.

The Ladybirds open the Bowling Green tournament next week against Class 4 Winfield (5-6) at 5:30 p.m. Monday in the middle school gym.