The growing confidence for the Mexico girls couldn’t match the gear shifted to by MICDS.

Mexico at MICDS Quarterfinal Photo Gallery

The Lady Bulldogs’ first state quarterfinal game since 1997 ended in a 76-46 loss in state No. 4 MICDS’s home gym in St. Louis. Mexico stayed close to the Lady Rams until a MICDS timeout about halfway through the second quarter.

Head coach Makenzie Mudd said MICDS displayed its great athleticism from that point onward, led by star freshman Jordyn Haywood. She finished with 37 points, 10 rebounds and eight steals and was bouncing around seemingly everywhere to make offense difficult for Mexico.

“We knew they had a lot of athleticism and a lot of speed, especially with (Haywood),” Mudd said. “We knew she was going to be a challenge. She played such a great game today and got us pretty good with her transition opportunities. We just struggled to get her stopped.”

Having Haywood run wild upset the rest of Mexico’s game plan, Mudd said, as Kennedy Newman added to the defensive burden with 15 points and three 3-pointers. Mudd said Haywood is definitely one of the toughest the Lady Bulldogs have had to guard because of her versatility and length.

Mexico was doing well early by spreading the ball around and scoring in transition off MICDS mistakes. Claire Hudson, who will play for Kirkwood Community College,finished with a solid final game of 17 points, five rebounds and four assists. Alyssa Miller posted a double-double of 10 points and 10 rebounds along with three 3-pointers that all fell in the second half, and Scottie Smith added seven points.

The Mexico girls hadn’t won a district championship since 2006 and were able to accomplish that this year on home court. They weren’t satisfied as they won 68-53 at Westminster Christian Academy four days prior from the quarterfinal game. 

“The district tournament week and hosting it and knowing we were able to beat all the teams that we played, the confidence boost that week really was the big spark to help us in this postseason run,” Mudd said. “On Tuesday, we came out a little slow at Westminster, but they came together and realized again that we can do this.”

Mudd said the Lady Bulldogs have “nothing to hang our heads about this season” when she spoke to them in the locker room after the game. Mexico was one of eight Class 4 girls teams still playing basketball this past weekend, and that itself is a great accomplishment. 

Mexico’s run is even more amazing considering it had to deal with various injuries, illness and other adversity this season, Mudd said. Losing Grace Hudson to a season-ending knee injury was already a big blow because the Lady Bulldogs had to shift around their roster to fill in for their starting point guard. Several other girls on the roster were injured at some point including senior Haley Perkins, who returned to the court Saturday after sustaining a concussion in the district semifinals.

“We worked hard to get here,” Mudd said. “I’m not mad at all with the effort I’ve seen all season from this team.”

Mudd can’t wait to see how her star freshmen from this season, Miller and Smith, will develop in the next three years. She expects Hannah Loyd to be a good senior leader next season, and thinks Landri Teel will fill in the post role of Kenzie Taylor and Bentley McCarty to be the “scrappy” player that Kenley Jones has been. 

However, that means saying goodbye to starters Hudson and Jones,  Taylor and Perkins. Mudd said she appreciates all they have done for the program and said Taylor was “that inside presence” and Perkins was “a spitfire” even though they each have dealt with injuries over the last few years.

“Claire has been a leader for us for four years and did a really great job having to hold two different positions for us,” Mudd said. “Kenley Jones did a great job defensively for us all season long. She’s been one that nobody wants her defending them because she’ll get all up in your face.”