Tuesday’s game at home had the makings for a rough one for the Mexico girls.

Mexico vs Palmyra Photo Gallery

The Lady Bulldogs trailed Class 3 No. 10 Palmyra 29-9 after one quarter and gave up 25 points to Sydney Compton in the first half. Mexico fell behind 30 points only to tie the game at 60 in the fourth quarter and then losing 70-64.

Claire Hudson knocked down a 3-pointer in the corner to make it 58-56 Palmyra (10-8) and found her teammates for a couple of assists — first to Alyssa Miller and then to Scottie Smith for the tie with 2:51 left in the fourth quarter. Head coach Makenzie Mudd said these moments raised the team up but happened after being down for so long.

“We started off slow,” Mudd said. “I don’t know what was going on. We didn’t have a lot of energy and not a lot of effort out there. Something just clicked in that second quarter, and we started to play like we’ve been playing and I know how we can play.”

Mexico (8-8) did start resembling the team Mudd wanted them to be in the second quarter after Hudson completed a four-point play. The Lady Bulldogs were more frequently scoring with a frenetic pace displayed by Palmyra in the first quarter, which put them down 29-9.

Mudd said there has been some sickness going through the locker room, including with senior all-conference and college signee Hudson, and that prevented the team from having a “full-effort, full-body practice” the previous day. On top of that, starter Grace Hudson fractured her patella the previous week against Hallsville and will be out for the rest of the season. 

Claire Hudson finished with 15 points, 10 assists and nine rebounds. Smith followed with 14 points and 10 rebounds, and Alyssa Miller had 11 points and five assists as Mexico was cutting to the rim for open layups and finding open trailing teammates in transition.

“We’ve gotten a lot better about moving the ball and going with that inside-out game and swinging it more effectively,” Mudd said. “That’s something I hope we can grow for the remainder of the games because that’s where we’re most effective with the lineup we’re working with right now.”

Kenley Jones regularly gives Mexico pesky defense and quickness but isn’t relied on to score as much. Jones, however, had 12 points against Palmyra and had eight points in the second quarter when the Lady Bulldogs started their massive comeback.

“She came out of nowhere tonight,” Mudd said. “Usually, she’s not super-comfortable shooting. She wants to be the speedy person on defense, and she wants to sling the ball on offense. Tonight, she had a couple of those quick drives and shots and was like, ‘I can do this.’ I hope she keeps that feeling.”

Palmyra’s seniors gave them good feelings early and calmed down the Lady Panthers as their lead dissipated. Compton finished with a game-high 34 points and had five 3-pointers and four steals, and Clare Williams had 24 points and five steals. 

Mudd said some late turnovers after Mexico tied the game at 60 put Palmyra in the driving seat with free throws. She said those mistakes wouldn’t have hurt as much if not for the early defensive collapse against the Palmyra seniors.

“We talked a lot about closing out the 3-point line,” Mudd said. “In the first quarter, we weren’t getting fully to our closeouts. That’s what was leaving (Compton) so open for those shots. We fixed that later and took away a lot of her opportunities.”

Mexico could have had a much different result if not for the slow start, Mudd said. This was only one game after a 67-61 loss at conference foe Kirksville on Friday in another comeback that didn’t lead to a victory. The Lady Bulldogs play at Southern Boone (5-10) at 7:30 p.m. tonight.

“Hopefully, that is something we can learn from to pick it up a little bit sooner,” Mudd said.