Ladybirds fall short in 27-23 defensive battle at Elsberry
The North Callaway girls were unable to prevent Elsberry’s winning streak from reaching 17 on Friday night, but it certainly …
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Ladybirds fall short in 27-23 defensive battle at Elsberry
The North Callaway girls were unable to prevent Elsberry’s winning streak from reaching 17 on Friday night, but it certainly wasn’t an easy victory for the Lady Indians.
The Ladybirds lost the Eastern Missouri Conference game 27-23, with a team scoring double digits in a quarter only one time.
The Lady Indians scored 12 points in the second quarter after North Callaway shut them out in the first quarter. That brought the halftime score to 12-10 Elsberry and the Ladybirds stayed in it until the end.
Head coach Tim Turlington said he hasn’t coached a game that low scoring since 25 years ago when he first started coaching boys basketball at Kennett. He said his team won that day 23-21 in double overtime. As for Friday’s game, Turlington said that was also winnable before Elsberry scored the final four points from the free throw line.
“They play a 1-2-2 zone and are pretty solid in it, and we manned them up the whole night and we were really solid in our defense,” Turlington said. “Neither team really had clean looks pretty much the whole night. You got the ball, you usually had someone right there staring at you.
“With three seconds left, we ran a little hit and got a really good look, but it just didn’t go down.”
Riley Blevins led North Callaway (12-11, 3-4 EMO) with seven points, and Mya Pflasterer led Elsberry (18-4, 6-0 EMO) with nine points.
The Ladybirds played at conference foe Wright City on Monday, winning 63-40, prior to hosting conference opponent Mark Twain (0-18, 0-6 EMO) a week after at 7 p.m.
Thunderbirds allow season-high in 86-52 loss at Elsberry
The North Callaway boys were averaging around 50 points per game allowed going into Friday night.
That particular night wasn’t a good one as the Thunderbirds allowed a season-high in an 86-52 loss at Eastern Missouri Conference foe Elsberry. Kaden Kinsler scored 40 points and drained eight 3-pointers for the Indians while Bryce Irving followed with 12 points.
Head coach Matt Miller said there was a list of things North Callaway (10-11, 3-4 EMO) typically does well that just weren’t executed against the athletic Elsberry (16-6, 5-1 EMO).
“We didn’t guard good enough throughout the duration of the game, our defense transition wasn’t near good enough against a team like that, and then we didn’t close out the shooters good enough,” Miller said.
Matthew Weber led North Callaway with 21 points and three 3-pointers, and Sam Pezold followed with 14 points and two 3-pointers. Isiah Craighead pulled down six rebounds off the bench.
The Thunderbirds have lost five straight, with the previous four defeats being tight contests. The first loss was a 61-59 loss at Clopton and the fourth loss was a last-second buzzer beater loss at home to Louisiana.
“We’ve got to improve our mental toughness,” Miller said. “We’re reeling right now, but we’re going to find out about our mental toughness in the next game or two.”
North Callaway played at conference foe Wright City on Tuesday before facing East Buchanan (11-5) on Saturday at Father Tolton in Columbia.
