NEOSHO, Mo. — Joplin and Neosho were both shooting a head-scratching 20% from the field after the first quarter of their game on Friday afternoon at the Neosho Junior High in the Neosho Holiday Classic. The Eagles were efficient in the second quarter and grew their lead to 9 points at 22-13 going into halftime.
They held off a late run by the Wildcats in the final quarter and earned a 41-40 victory, making Joplin girls 1-1 in the tournament and Neosho girls 0-2. "Yeah that was huge for us today. Coach (Tyler) Chaney does a great job down here (at Neosho).
They were running a lot of box-and-one on Alissa Owens. The main way to beat a zone is to outrun it," Joplin head coach Brad Cox said. That's what Joplin did in the second frame as Aiyana Kroll got free and ran the floor quickly during some fastbreak opportunities, caught the passes and converted a couple layups to help stretch the lead.
Kroll, Owens and Solei Parker really had it going in that frame as they were the only Eagles to score. Kroll tallied 6 in the second period alone and Owens and Parker added 4 each. Joplin used the fastbreak baskets to jump out to a 22-8 lead before Neosho converted the last 5 points of the quarter to make it 22-13 at half.
Beclynn Garrett made a 3-pointer and Jazmyn Washington added a basket off an offensive rebound. "Neosho's always going to fight you to the very end. They're not going to give up," Cox said.
"I'm very proud of our girls. It's very easy in that situation to feel like its s.