The first quarter hasn’t been kind to the Mexico girls’ shooters.

Mexico vs Moberly Photo Gallery

Friday’s first eight minutes wasn’t much different, but the Lady Bulldogs improved as the game grew older and as the lead became bigger in a 51-28 win over North Central Missouri Conference and all-district foe Moberly. Mexico (9-10, 3-3 NCMC) snapped a four-game losing streak in its second victory over the Lady Spartans (4-15, 1-5 NCMC) this season.

Head coach Makenzie Mudd said the 9-5 Mexico lead after one quarter wasn’t much despite taking good shots in the first quarter. It was a relief to see more shots go down to open a 26-8 halftime lead.

“In the second quarter, some started to fall and that confidence grew,” Mudd said. “We did a great job of moving the ball and sharing scoring opportunities, which we know is something that had to happen in order for this team to be successful.”

Some of the first shots to go down were 3-pointers by Alyssa Miller. Two days after the freshman caught fire in the second half in a loss at Fulton, Miller followed her four 3-pointer performance against Fulton with a three 3-pointer showcase against Moberly to add up to 11 points. 

Mudd said Miller was encouraged before the game “to just start shooting” because the team wouldn’t be upset as long as she took good shots. Even after another rough first quarter for Mexico in a season full of them, Miller said she wasn’t discouraged.

“I just keep on shooting, work with my team and hope the shots fall some time,” Miller said. “I’ve been working on shooting at practice and just putting shots up.”

On the same night Claire Hudson celebrated scoring her 1,000th career point earlier this season in a 70-68 overtime win at Macon, the senior finished with a good all-around game with 10 points, 11 rebounds, seven assists and four steals.

Scottie Smith led Mexico with 13 points along with three steals only two nights after taking an elbow to the forehead. Mudd said that evening she feared Smith had a concussion but was happy Smith was cleared against Moberly. 

“Her length especially on defense gets her a lot of deflections,” Mudd said. “Her arms spread so wide, and she’s all over the place. Sometimes, she doesn’t even know where she’s at, but she just goes flying and finds the ball.

Smith’s length contributed to the 16 steals tallied by Mexico to only allow one Moberly double-digit scorer in Zoey Hannam, with 14 points and four steals. Mudd said the good defense in the first quarter gave Mexico some time to correct its shooting.

The Lady Bulldogs had a better defensive game than their previous 52-39 win over the Lady Spartans in the Warrenton tournament. Mudd said they need to maintain those strong points in a rematch later this season in Moberly.

“We saw a lot of little mistakes on defense throughout the last few games that we had,” Mudd said. “Not moving well on the back side and not closing out to the ball quick enough. We did a great job of fixing those things tonight, and that produces a lot more forced turnovers and good defensive stops.”

Mexico mounted a 19-0 run in the second and third quarters before a free throw ruined the streak. The Lady Bulldogs owned a 39-15 lead after the third quarter.

Miller had double-digit rebounds at halftime before eventually recording 17 boards in a busy night on the glass. The defensive rebounds set up Mexico for the offense that Miller said it wants to run.

“We were kind of rushing it sometimes, but we slowed it down,” Miller said.

Mudd believes the positive “bench energy” the Lady Bulldogs had against Moberly can help them move forward and hopefully avoid a prolonged losing streak near the end of the regular season.

“I hope they remember how they felt, how they played and just keep carrying on,” Mudd said.