Lady Jays pull out squeaker at Branson (Rebroadcast Available)

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No one said it was going to be easy.

Certainly not the Branson Lady Pirates, who took undefeated Marshfield High School all the way to the wire before falling 68-64 in Central Ozark Conference basketball action on Wednesday, Feb. 13.

The Lady Jays improved to 24-0 on the season and 8-0 in the league with the road win at Branson. Marshfield moved within one game of a perfect regular season.

“I don’t think people realize how hard it is to win a COC title outright,” Marshfield coach Gary Murpy said. “We haven’t won one since 1998-99, despite all the good teams we’ve had in that time We were co-champions, but we haven’t won an outright title since Mottesheard and that group went 31-1.”

The state’s top-ranked Class 4 Lady Jays trailed 64-63 with just 1:41 to play at Branson. And the Lady Pirates (now 16-8 overall and 3-5 in the league) led by as many as 11 late in the third period.

“I was really proud of the way our girls never showed any signs of panic,” Murphy said. “They kept playing hard, kept their focus, and our defense finally began to make a difference.”

Marshfield went on top 65-64 on a jump shot by Morgan Smith with 1:03 to play in the game. The Lady Jays forced a turnover, and senior Sara Jane Plemmons added a free throw with 23.9 seconds remaining.

Senior Lacey Boshe sealed the deal with a steal and a pair of free throws with just 11.3 seconds on the clock.

Plemmons led the Lady Jays effort by scoring 19 points, making 9-of-13 field goals with 12 rebounds, 3 steals, 2 assists and a blocked shot in the game. Plemmons scored 7 points in the final period, including a pair of unanswered baskets which put Marshfield in front 61-60 with just 3:16 to play in the game, the first Marshfield lead since the first period.

Lacey Boshe added 16 points, hitting 8-of-9 free throw in the game with 9 rebounds, a game-high 4 steals and 2 assists for the Lady Jays.

Freshman Amanda Gourley added 11 points to the Marshfield attack, hitting 3-of-7 treys in the game with 2 assists, 2 steals and a rebound in the contest.

Junior Morgan Smith scored 7 points with 5 rebounds and a steal, hitting a momentum-shifting trey in the third period and a go-ahead jumper in the final stanza for the Lady Jays.

Senior Jaysa Hartman hit a pair of treys, scoring 6 points in the game for Marshfield with a team-high 4 assists and 3 rebounds.

Junior Anna Glenn added 5 points and 2 rebounds to the winning attack.

Freshman Alley Bruton scored 4 points with 2 assists and steal and a rebound for the Lady Jays.

Ashley Boshe and Kassie Hyde contributed to the Marshfield win as well.

Marshfield made 8-of-14 field goals, including 2-of-3 treys, in the first period, but still trailed, 20-19. Cailynn Hayter of Branson scored 11 points in the first period, hitting 3 treys, and Kristina Dodd added 8 first stanza points for the Lady Pirates.

Branson led 41-33 at intermission.

"I felt pretty helpless as a coach," Murphy said. "We pride ourselves on our defense. We’ve been able to run out on 3-point shooters, and force them to miss so far this season. But Branson wasn’t missing."

The Lady Pirates were 5-of-8 from beyond the arc in the first half, and 8-of-18 in the game. Marshfield made 4-of-9 treys in the second half, and 7-of-8 free throws.

Kristina Dodd led the Branson attack with 20 points, hitting 10-of-14 field goals. The 5-10 sophomore also had 6 rebounds and 2 steals in the game.

Senior Kelsey Combs, honored before the game for her 1,000 career point, added 15 points, 4 rebounds, 4 assists and a steal to the Lady Pirate attack. Combs hit a fourth quarter trey which put Marshfield behind by two possessions.

Cailynn Hayter scored 15 points, hitting 4-of-7 treys in the game with 3 steals, 2 assists and a rebound for Branson.

Hailey Sanders led the Lady Pirates on the boards with 8 rebounds, scoring 4 points with a steal and an assist in the game.

Maggie Givens scored 6 points, JayJ VanBuren hit a big trey and Kyndal Clark scored 2 points in the game for the home team.

Branson hit 8-of-18 treys and Marshfield was 6-for-15 from beyond the arc.

The Lady Jays will wrap up the regular season tonight at Willard.

“I think it would be very special if we could win the COC outright in the last year that it’s going to be aligned this way,” Murphy said.

There will be new members in the COC next year, including Catholic, Hollister, Webb City, Carthage and Neosho, increasing the number of members to 15.

Marshfield will start post-season play at the district tournament in Bolivar next week.