For the second straight game, the Mexico girls were tied going into the fourth quarter.
As was the case at home against Kirksville, the Lady Bulldogs were on the losing end of their Jan. 28 game …
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For the second straight game, the Mexico girls were tied going into the fourth quarter.
As was the case at home against Kirksville, the Lady Bulldogs were on the losing end of their Jan. 28 game on Gary Filbert Court against Southern Boone, falling 55-48. Mexico (9-9) and Southern Boone (5-10) were tied at 38 heading into the fourth quarter and Mexico trailed 49-48 with about a minute left in the game prior to an 8-0 Southern Boone run to close the contest.
Head coach Makenzie Mudd said little mistakes hurt the Lady Bulldogs down the stretch. Southern Boone was able to gain possession of the ball and get to the free throw line while Mexico couldn’t control what it could control.
"Not boxing out enough and giving them too many second-chance opportunities and missing way too many free throws,” Mudd said. “They are the little things we can control. We were letting calls from the refs that we didn't agree with get in our heads and control our heads instead of fixing the things we could fix and playing through those things we can't control."
Mexico did have a seven-point lead in the second quarter before Southern Boone rallied to trim Mexico’s halftime lead to 25-21. The Lady Bulldogs shot ahead by nine points in the third quarter only to head into the fourth tied at 38.
Bodies were flying everywhere as girls were diving on the floor for loose balls, fighting for rebounds or colliding with others on scoring opportunities. There were plenty of fouls called as a result, and Mudd said that is an aspect of the game that Mexico can’t control.
“People were everywhere with hustle,” Mudd said. “Sometimes, when they called fouls on us for that, we didn’t necessarily agree and players let that get into their heads and change the way that they play because they were scared of getting another one. We were disagreeing when they didn’t call a foul on them.”
Alyssa Miller led Mexico with 16 points, six rebounds, five assists and three steals. Grace Hudson followed with 12 points, seven rebounds and seven assists, and Scottie Smith had 12 points and nine rebounds.
Mudd said the negative weighed Mexico down, but the Lady Bulldogs had plenty of positives they hope to carry over. Mexico didn’t score through four minutes and then were knocking down shots. Hudson drained two 3-pointers, and Miller connected from deep to spark the offense.
In the second half, Smith made one from deep to respond to a Southern Boone rally. The Lady Bulldogs were also finding each other for layups in transition, especially through assists from Hudson and Miller.
“We had tons of good moments and a lot of really great things to take away from that game,” Mudd said. “If we clean up those little things, it might be a totally different outcome. We’re doing all these big things, and those little mistakes are making us take a big step back.”
Mexico is coming off two straight losses where the game slipped away in the fourth quarter. Mudd said the Lady Bulldogs have to match their level of play through the first three quarters with the fourth quarter, especially on the defensive end.
Sadie Ahern led Southern Boone with 19 points and four 3-pointers, and Ayla Yung finished with 14 points and 15 rebounds. Ahern sprung loose near the end of the game by scoring 10 points in the fourth quarter.
“There were too many extra opportunities and too many wide-open 3-pointers for her,” Mudd said. “We were doing a good job of getting back on defense and getting to the lane, but we were letting her stop at the 3-point lane and were not closing out to her quick enough.”
Mexico (3-2 NCMC) has an important game coming up next as they visit North Central Missouri Conference and Class 4 District 8 foe Moberly (9-9, 3-1 NCMC) at 6:15 p.m. Friday before playing in the Superfan Shootout in Quincy against Central (Camp Point, Ill.) at 9:30 a.m. Saturday.
“We’ll work on finding that extra energy and communicating with each other on screens and things like that,” Mudd said. “Somebody set a screen, and we were a little bit lazy to move and try to get to the next pass. How do we get through it, how do we get to the next girl and how do we stop the next score?”
