Less turnovers turn into more scoring opportunities.

It might be an easy leap in logic, but North Callaway girls basketball head coach Andrew Klein told his players that’s how they have changed recently, including in a 54-33 home victory over Hallsville on Saturday afternoon. About one month after a 49-35 loss to Hallsville, the Ladybirds scored a season-high amount of points.

Saturday’s game was the second straight one where North Callaway reached 50 points because the Ladybirds lost 54-50 at Eastern Missouri Conference foe Louisiana two weeks ago. Klein credits the work his players and coaches have done over the last couple weeks.

North Callaway vs Hallsville Photo Gallery

“We’re starting to play better basketball because we’re taking ownership in what we’re doing,” Klein said. “We’re taking care of the ball a lot better. I’ve got three sophomores who are backcourt players for us who start, and they’re growing.”

Sophie Olsson led North Callaway with 18 points and 10 rebounds, Kymorie Myers had 12 points, 10 rebounds and five steals, Anna Shryock had 11 points and three 3-pointers, and Icey Tomlinson finished with eight points and seven rebounds.

Olsson is one of North Callaway’s sophomore backcourt players who thinks North Callaway is playing together better for all four quarters. She and other girls found open shots for teammates, including from beyond the perimeter. Shryock and Olsson each knocked down three 3-pointers. 

“We’re working together to move the ball around and help share it instead of just one player taking it and doing whatever they want,” Olsson said.

Klein echoed Olsson’s assessment as he noted that North Callaway finished with double-digit assists. The passes are more helping the Ladybirds more than hurting as Klein said they had issues with turnovers earlier in the season, having more than 20 turnovers against Hallsville last time but finishing with 10 this time.

“Taking care of the basketball gets more opportunities to score,” Klein said. “We were being unselfish. It was our highest game this year of scoring, and we had double digits in assists. That’s awesome to see as a coach, and I’m happy because we’re playing a lot of games coming up.”

North Callaway trailed Hallsville 11-10 after one quarter because of a turnover that ended the quarter. The Ladybirds followed that with a 10-0 run to begin the second quarter.

“We were just keeping our head up and looking up in transition,” Olsson said. “We were able to make good passes that lead to shots.”

North Callaway had Olsson scoring in transition, Myers and Tomlinson grabbing rebounds and Shryock hitting 3-pointers. Klein said this is what he thought those girls were capable of going into the season and has been pleased to see even more from his roster.

“A couple of the bench — our other seniors Grace (Rasmussen) and Violet (Martin) — do little things that aren’t necessarily scoring the basketball but cutting hard and doing things to open up for other shooters,” Klein said. “That’s important, too. With only dressing eight and all eight of them contributing today, I’m really proud of our team.”

Klein believes his sophomores aren’t done growing yet this season and can give his team a chance to win any game the rest of the season. He said they better understand the value of “possessing the basketball.”

“Varsity basketball is pretty quick,” Klein said. “There’s some experience that these girls had from last season, but none of them were point guard last year. It comes with time, and it’s also taking pride in the basketball.”

North Callaway is the No. 7 seed and will play No. 2 seed Blair Oaks (6-3) at 6 p.m. Monday in the South Callaway tournament.