The 10th Annual Southwest Girls Holiday Tournament was full of ups and downs for a trio of local teams involved in this year’s event, including Southwest earning its first win of the season and Cassville taking third place.
Southwest (1-12), ranked No. 8 in the field, fell to eventual champion Gentry (Ark.) in the opening round, 78-30. The Lady Trojans bounced back in the semifinals with a 53-49 win over McAuley Catholic in overtime, thrilled to come out on top in yet another close game.
“The win in overtime was a great confidence boost for us, we played smart and as a team to earn that,” said Destiny Jalbert, Southwest girls basketball coach. “The girls were communicating and kept ourselves in control. We have had 5 games now that have ended with a 1-2 point margin at the end. We are learning so much during those games, which is great.”
In the consolation championship, the Lady Trojans led for most of the contest, but a few key mistakes allowed East Newton to win it by a point, 34-33.
“We did not finish the game against East Newton intelligently, but it was little things throughout the game that put us in that position at the end,” Jalbert said. “We have to do all the little things during every play — being strong with the ball, finishing around the rim, smart passes, staying low on D, keeping our feet moving and hands out, blocking out, grabbing the ball, moving with the ball. All these things matter at all times on both ends of the court with every play, and we are getting that figured out.”
Going forward this season, Jalbert said the team’s continued improvement and hard work will pay off.
“You start every season wanting to see improvement throughout the season and to be playing your best at the end,” she said. “We are definitely making improvements. The girls are taking some hits, but their love for the game and each other pushes them to get up and to continue. I am proud of the growth that these girls are showing, they are very hard workers.”
Cassville (5-7), which came into the tournament ranked No. 2, opened play with a 42-30 victory over East Newton, then after leading No. 3 Commerce (Okla.) for most of the contest, the Lady Wildcats let it slip with a 52-49 loss.
Cassville bounced back in the third-place bout, defeating Billings 49-31 to earn a trophy. The Lady Wildcats have been second twice and now third in the last three years at the Southwest Holiday Tournament.
Clayton Bagby, Cassville girls basketball coach, said the semifinal against Commerce as one of the team’s best games of the year, and it was unfortunate to come out on the wrong end.
“On the offensive side we did a good job of taking care of the ball, converting opportunities, and had some players step up,” he said. “If you had to look for something, you could say there were some things in that game defensively we need to do better. Overall, we have been a pretty decent defensive team this year, and with a younger team that has struggled offensively early, we have probably not put in the work in a few areas defensively that could have helped there. Commerce also had No. 2 and No. 10 that are very hard to guard, and No. 10 rarely took an uncontested, or even on balance shot, but we caught her on a good night where those were falling.”
Bagby said following the loss, the message was clear — move on to the next game.
“The message right after the game and next day going into the Billings game was, keep moving forward,” he said. “We felt like we had taken steps forward in the second half of the East Newton game and then played a solid game against a good Commerce team. We can’t let the end of it affect what we needed to do the next day to keep moving forward to becoming the best team we can be this year. Credit to our girls, they came ready to play and we put together a solid first half against Billings that helped lead to the win.”
Wheaton (3-11) also took part in the tournament, falling in all three games to take eighth place. The No. 6-ranked Lady Bulldogs fell to Commerce, 65-25, then East Newton, 46-25, and finally to McAuley in overtime, 47-44.
The All-Tournament Team includes: Shelby Still, Gentry, Cassville Democrat MVP; Brynn Cordeiro, Gentry; Brooklynn Blanchard, East Newton; Jaretsi Quintanilla, Southwest; Kenzie Clendenning, Billings; Emma Tevebaugh, Gentry; Madison Halterman, Cassville; Yadira Herrera, Commerce; Kaitlyn Casewell, Gentry; and Lacy Brough, Commerce.
