It has been a long season, but the Mexico girls had some fun on Tuesday night.

The season has been long enough for Tuesday to be Mexico’s third meeting with North Central Missouri Conference and district rival Fulton, and the Lady Bulldogs have won all three with a 65-40 victory this time. Mexico (13-10, 6-2 NCMC) shot out ahead 35-12 at halftime and finished with three players scoring in double figures.

The scoring leader this time was Scottie Smith, who finished with 19 points and four steals. Despite facing this time three times, Smith wouldn’t say it was difficult as much as it was fun facing Fulton in this third meeting. 

Mexico vs Fulton Photo Gallery

“This time, I feel like it was more fun,” Smith said. “We’re all getting closer. It’s still a rivalry, but as the two teams, we’re getting closer for sure. I think it’s more fun that way.”

Alyssa Miller followed with 15 points and nine rebounds, Grace Hudson had 12 points, and Hannah Loyd and Charleigh Douglas each finished with eight points, with Loyd pulling down eight rebounds.

Head coach Makenzie Mudd said picking up a win against a district opponent so close to districts is nice and liked how Mexico played as a team in the third meeting against an opponent. The Lady Bulldogs came away with 12 steals.

“We were basically talking about forcing those turnovers, getting to traps in the press and making sure we took advantage when they were trapped — who was covering that next person so we could deflect some of those passes,” Mudd said. “We got a lot of deflections, and we just forced a lot of problems for them.”

Mudd said Mexico gained more possessions and scoring opportunities with its press defense. Smith agreed as that was the key to win the night.

“Our main focus tonight was trapping,” Smith said. “We tried a new defense to get as many traps as possible. We know they have some good ball handlers and some point guards so the main goal was trap.”

Smith said Mexico trapped pretty well but still has room for improvement. Ali Skinner led Fulton (4-15, 0-7 NCMC) with a floor-high 22 points, and Fulton went on an 8-0 in the third quarter before Mexico responded to close out the third quarter with a 56-27 lead.

“We got a little lazy in the second half just feeling content,” Mudd said. “We were proud of what we accomplished but then gave up little easy things we could’ve stopped. We expected to get the same stops instead of moving our feet and forcing them to make some mistakes.”

Mudd said Fulton was physical this time as well and was focused on Mexico’s point guard Hudson. She didn’t score her first field goal until the third quarter and had to tally much of her points at the free throw line. 

The Lady Bulldogs had several others step up, including the senior Loyd. Mudd said Loyd has the speed to attack the paint and encourages her to shoot. 

“(Hudson) scored a lot against them the last time,” Mudd said. “They were expecting that again so they did their part of shutting her down.”

At 6:15 p.m. tonight for Senior Night, Mexico meets conference and district rival Moberly (11-13, 5-3 NCMC) for the second time in six games. The Lady Bulldogs have won four of five during this stretch but needed to overcome a slow start to win on the road last time against Moberly. 

Smith said she doesn’t want to see that first half this time but instead wants the one Mexico had against Fulton.

“I’m hoping this time we come out strong,” Smith said. “It was a close game in the first half for sure, but we came out in the third quarter strong and ended strong in the fourth quarter. I’m hoping we can go strong the whole time.”