Alyssa Miller could thrive on Wednesday night.

That is what the Mexico girls thought going into their Class 4 District 8 semifinals game against the host Moberly. Miller certainly did thrive by finishing with 28 points, 11 rebounds and six assists in a 60-54 win to take Mexico (15-12) to its third straight district championship game at 6 p.m. Friday against Kirksville (23-4).

Miller led the Lady Bulldogs with 19 points in their first meeting with Moberly (12-15), which was a 65-53 victory, but followed up with nine points in a 55-48 loss to the Lady Spartans in the rematch. She said she had her opportunities in the finale.

Mexico vs Moberly Photo Gallery

“We’ve been working on these opportunities that we had in the game,” Miller said. “We knew what they ran so we knew where the open opportunities would be.”

Head coach Makenzie Mudd said she told Miller before the game that she would be key because of her ability on the inside.

“We talked to her about being a key on the outside and on the inside and just using her length and athleticism to try and create advantages,” Mudd said. “That can be attack and kick it out for an outside shot for someone else or go score. She answered that challenge really well.”

Grace Hudson had 11 points, Scottie Smith finished with eight points and six rebounds, and Charleigh Douglas added seven points and four assists.

Mexico took a 21-9 lead near the start of the second quarter before Moberly would come roaring back and create yet another back-and-forth contest between the rivals. Mudd said the Lady Bulldogs were most concerned about Moberly’s outside shooting, and those concerns were supported by three Moberly 3-pointers in the third quarter. 

Olivia Dunwoody led with 20 points and three 3-pointers while two other Lady Spartans had at least one make from beyond the arc. Moberly would have four 3-pointers in the second half so Mudd said Mexico did well limiting that part of its game.

“We were trying to switch on screens,” Mudd said. “They set a lot of good screens to get open. We were making sure we were communicating on defense to close out and try to slow them down as much as we possibly could.”

Mudd said “silly mistakes” allowed Moberly back in the game so she told her team it was fine as long as it cut down on errors such as turnovers. She said Mexico had that early lead for a reason.

Miller said Mexico tried to keep its energy up and were really motivated to avoid the season ending in the semifinals. She said the Lady Bulldogs knew what to do.

“In the corners, you were open a lot or you could pass in the corner, cut down and you were there for a layup,” Miller said. “Those are easy points right there.”

Mexico’s next game is another third meeting with a North Central Missouri Conference rival. This time, it will be against the conference champion Kirksville (23-4), who has beaten Mexico twice this season after the Lady Bulldogs defeated the Lady Tigers for the district title last season.

Mudd said Mexico has performed better each time out against Kirksville, losing by 20 points in the first meeting and then 10 points in the rematch. Her Wednesday star said erasing past deficits starts with limiting mistakes.

“We need to focus on open opportunities and take them when we have them,” Miller said. “We can’t give the ball up for no reason.”