North Callaway girls come back to win 28-26 at Van-Far 

After trailing at halftime on Monday, the North Callaway girls have their first win.

The Ladybirds beat Eastern Missouri Conference foe Van-Far 28-26 on the road despite being down 19-14 at halftime. 

Kymorie Myers led North Callaway (1-5, 1-1 EMO) with 12 points, including eight in the third quarter, and 12 rebounds. Anna Shryock had five points, Sophie Olsson had seven rebounds and Morgan Benne had two blocks.

Elliott Utterback led Van-Far (2-3, 1-1 EMO) with 11 points and two 3-pointers, and Aviana Early had four points. 

North Callaway plays at conference foe Louisiana (1-2, 1-0 EMO), and Van-Far plays at Community (5-2) at 6 p.m. Friday.

Ladybirds early mistakes hurt late in 49-35 loss to Hallsville

While North Callaway was happy at times down the stretch of its Dec. 10 game, the result was another loss.

The Ladybirds lost their fifth straight game to begin the season and were eliminated from the Centralia tournament by a 49-35 loss to Hallsville (2-4). They cut into their deficit 35-34 in the fourth quarter before Elizabeth Lairson nailed three 3-pointers to secure the win for Hallsville.

Head coach Andrew Klein said North Callaway found some sources of offense late in the game from Kymorie Myers, who had five points in the fourth quarter, and Anna Shryock, hit two 3-pointers, including one that made it a 35-34 game. He was glad to see them knock down shots, but mistakes throughout the game made it harder to come back.

“That’s awesome, and I’m proud of those girls and that the ball went in for them down the stretch,” Klein said. “We had too many turnovers. As a team, we’re just not taking care of the ball. We shouldn’t be in positions like that, having to make every shot down the stretch.”

North Callaway troubles started at the beginning when it fell behind 10-0. The team’s point guard Sophie Olsson is recovering from an ankle injury and came off the bench during the week. After she entered the game, the Ladybirds cut their deficit to 13-7 and went into the second quarter trailing 17-10 after Olsson scored all 10 points.

Olsson finished with 13 points to lead the Ladybirds, Myers had 10 points, five rebounds and four steals, Shryock finished with eight points, and Morgan Benne led with nine rebounds. Klein said a bad start should be avoided.

“Sophie is super talented,” Klein said. “The problem is we can’t get down 10-0. That’s great that Sophie scored 10 straight, but getting down 10-0 is inexcusable and our team knows that.”

Klein said North Callaway has to “figure something out” to avoid the slow starts it has had this season. Part of it is having its full team available. North Callaway’s practice the day before the Hallsville game actually included all five starters so Klein said the Ladybirds have to figure out how to run the offense more smoothly.

“We’ve had two injuries and some other things going on,” Klein said. “We’re just looking forward to getting healthy.”