JV Lady Jays hold on for victory

The Lady Jays JV held a 10-point lead midway through the final period of what turned into a thrilling 56-54 Central Ozark Conference basketball win over visiting Nixa High School on Thursday, Feb. 7, the final Marshfield home game of the season.

The game was close throughout the first half, with Nixa leading 14-12 after one period and Marshfield on top 30-28 at intermission.

The Lady Jays began to pull away in the third period as their pressure defense forced Nixa to miss 14-of-19 field goals in the stanza. Shelby Porter scored 5 points in the period to lead 7 Marshfield players who scored in the quarter, which ended with the Lady Jays up 47-39.

Marshfield got a trey each from Sarah Neptune and Hannah Keeth in the final period, and led by double digits before Nixa rallied in the final minutes. Liz Reida scored 6 points and Macy Mathew hit a big trey, giving the Lady Eagles a chance to tie or go ahead with a last second shot.

But the Marshfield defense came through one last time, forcing a turnover to seal the deal.

Hannah Keeth was the leading scorer for the Lady Jays with 12 points, making 3-of-7 treys with 2 assists and a steal in the game.

Chelsea Ahrens added 10 points, 3 steals and a rebound to the winning attack.

Sarah Neptune scored 9 points for Marshfield with 4 rebounds and 2 steals in the game.

Liz Reida led Nixa with 16 points, 4 rebounds and 4 steals.

Erica Garcia added 9 points, 9 rebounds, 3 steals and an assist to the Lady Eagles attack.

Macy Mathew also scored 9 points for Nixa with 7 rebounds and 2 assists.

Shelby Porter finished with 8 points, 6 rebounds, 3 assists and 2 steals for Marshfield.

Kaitlyn Murgel led Marshfield on the boards with 7 rebounds, scoring 3 points with 4 steals and 2 assists in the contest.

Jessie Bruton handed out a game-high 5 assists for the Lady Jays with 2 points and 2 rebounds.

Kayla Baldwin finished with 4 points, 2 rebounds, 2 assists and 2 steals for Marshfield.

Justina Burney also scored 4 points for the Lady Jays with 4 rebounds and a steal.

Ashley Honeycutt added 4 points and a rebound to the winning attack.

Brooke Foster scored 6 points with 8 rebounds and a steal for Nixa.

Karissa Gingell also scored 6 points for the Lady Eagles with 2 blocked shots and a steal.

Michelle Loge scored 4 points with 4 rebounds, a steal and an assist for the visitors.

Nikki Cox scored 4 points with a rebound and Summer Sisco had 2 rebounds for the Lady Eagles.