Lady Jays celebrate Senior Night (Rebroadcast Available)

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The Lady Jays refused to lose to Nixa, celebrating Senior Night with a 55-40 Central Ozark Conference basketball victory in front of a big crowd Thursday night at Marshfield High School.

The top-ranked Class 4 team in Missouri improved to 23-0 on the season and 7-0 in the COC with the win.

Nixa, now 17-6 overall and 5-2 in the league, was impressive in the opening period, holding Marshfield scoreless for the first five minutes of the game. Lady Eagle post players Aly Stock and Abby Bracker altered Marshfield shots, holding Lady Jays seniors Lacey Boshe and Sara Jane Plemmons scoreless in the first quarter on a combined 0-for-10 shooting from the field.

Luckily, junior Morgan Smith took up the slack offensively, scoring the only 6 points Marshfield would get in the first period.

The Lady Jays defense was able to force 5 turnovers in the opening stanza, and Marshfield trailed just 8-6 entering the second quarter.

In the second period, Sara Jane Plemmons kept taking the ball to the basket against the taller (6-3 and 5-10) Nixa posts, scoring 7 points to help Marshfield stay within a possession of the lead.

The Lady Eagles led 17-15 at intermission, getting 10 points from sophomore Beth Funderburk in the first half.

The Lady Jays finally grabbed the lead when Morgan Smith hit a trey to start the second half scoring, giving Marshfield an 18-17 lead.

Nixa regained the advantage on another basket by Funderburk, and led 22-20 when Marshfield went on an 11-0 run to take the lead for good. The run started with a trey by senior Jaysa Hartman, and included a trey by senior Lacey Boshe and 5 points by senior Sara Jane Plemmons. Marshfield led 31-22 late in the third period, but Nixa fought back with an 8-1 run, cutting the Lady Jays advantage to 32-29 entering the final period.

Marshfield started the fourth quarter with an 8-0 run and never looked back. The Lady Jays hit 5-of-7 field goals in the final period, including a trey each from freshman guards Amanda Gourley and Alley Bruton. Marshfield also made 11-of-14 free throws down the stretch, and made 18-of-22 free throws in the game.

“I was really happy that our seniors were able to have success in their final home game,” Marshfield coach Gary Murphy said.

Sara Jane Plemmons posted a double-double for Marshfield, scoring 16 points with 12 rebounds, a steal and a blocked shot in the game.

Morgan Smith was the leading scorer for the Lady Jays. Smith finished with 17 points on 5-of-7 shooting from the field and 6-of-6 shooting at the free throw line. She also had 5 blocked shots, 3 assists and 3 rebounds in the game.

Amanda Gourley scored 9 points, hitting a trey and 4-of-4 free throws in the game, with 3 rebounds, a steal and an assist in the contest.

Alley Bruton added 5 points, a rebound, a steal and an assist to the winning attack.

Lacey Boshe scored four points with 4 rebounds, a game-high 4 steals, a game-high 4 assists and 2 blocked shots for Marshfield.

Jaysa Hartman finished with 3 points, 5 rebounds and 3 assists for the Lady Jays.

Anna Glenn scored a point and handed out an assist; Haley Diehl has a steal and a rebound; Kassie Hyde finished with a steal and Ashley Boshe had 3 rebounds and an assist for the Lady Jays.

Beth Funderburk led Nixa with 19 points, 3 rebounds, 2 steals, 2 assists and a blocked shot in the game.

Emily Walker added 8 points, 2 assists a steal and a rebound to the Lady Eagles effort.

Randa Raper scored 5 points for Nixa with 7 rebounds, 2 steals and an assist in the game.

Abby Bracker scored 4 points and led the Lady Eagles on the boards with 9 rebounds, also picking up 3 steals, 2 blocked shots and handing out an assist in the contest.

Aly Stock blocked 5 shots, pulled down 3 rebounds, score 2 points and handed out an assist for Nixa.

Tara Temple had 2 assists and a rebound and Jourdyn Rhodes had a steal and a rebound for Nixa.

 Marshfield will be back in action Monday night at Branson.