Lady Jays knock off top ranked Bolivar (Rebroadcast Available)

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The Lady Jays knocked off the top ranked team in Missouri’s Class 4 with a thrilling 47-43 Central Ozark Conference basketball victory over Bolivar on Thursday night before a packed gym at Marshfield High School.

The Lady Jays had to come-from-behind over and over again in the final period while improving to 16-0 overall after their opening conference game of the season. The talented Lady Liberators fell to 11-2 overall and 1-1 in the COC despite a sterling performance by senior Casey Garrison.

Garrison scored 17 points in the first half, including 11 in the second quarter when she made 8-of-10 shots, helping Bolivar to a 23-20 lead.

Marshfield had jumped on top 12-4 in the early moments with 6 points from Sara Jane Plemmons and 4 from Alley Bruton.

The second half was a see-saw battle, and Bolivar led 32-31 entering the fourth period.

Marshfield got a big lift from junior Anna Glenn, taking a 36-35 lead on her 3-point shot. Junior Morgan Smith came up with 6 fourth quarter points, including a steal and basket which gave Marshfield the lead for good in the final minute, and a pair of free throws in the final seconds. Plemmons scored 7 points in the final period, working on the low post and drawing key fouls to help Marshfield go up 43-40.

But Garrison calmly nailed a long trey for Bolivar to tie the score before steals by Smith and Jaysa Hartman placed the Lady Liberators in a deficit which proved decisive.

Garrison and Marshfield’s Lacey Boshe have each signed a letter-of-intent to continue their basketball careers at Missouri State University, and Lady Bears fans on hand in Marshfield had to be thrilled by what the witnessed Thursday night.

Lacey Boshe scored 12 points for Marshfield with 11 rebounds, 5 assists and 2 steals. Garrison’s final line was 27 points on 8-of-14 shooting from the field and 9-of-11 shooting from the line with 3 rebounds, 3 steals, 2 assists and a blocked shot.

Plemmons led the Marshfield scoring with 16 points, hitting 6-of-11 field goals and 4-of-5 free throws in the game with 5 rebounds, 4 assists, 2 steals and a blocked shot.

Smith finished with 10 points, hitting every shot she took in the second half, with 4 rebounds, 3 steals, an assist and a blocked shot for the winners.

Glenn provided a much needed defensive spark in the second half, and added 5 points, 2 rebounds and an assist to the Lady Jays efforts.

Freshman Alley Bruton scored 4 points with 3 steals, 2 rebounds and an assist for Marshfield.

Hartman directed the winning attack and had 3 rebounds, 3 steals and an assist in the game.

Freshman Amanda Gourley and senior Kassie Hyde each had two rebounds for Marshfield, and contributed to a team defense which forced 14 turnovers.

Bolivar’s defense was as impressive, forcing 16 Marshfield turnovers.

Rachel Sawyer had 5 blocked shots to spark the visitor’s defense, scoring 7 points with 11 rebounds, a steal and an assist in the game.

Crystal Guiot scored 5 points for the Liberators with 3 steals, 2 assists and a rebound in the contest.

Hayley Blair added 2 points, Andrea Porter finished with 2 assists, 2 steals and a rebound and Katy Roweton finished with 2 points, 3 assists, 2 steals and a rebound for Bolivar.

“We can enjoy this win until 3 p.m. tomorrow,” Marshfield coach Gary Murphy said. “Then we have to start thinking about the Republic game Monday (also at Marshfield). If we don’t take care of business against Republic, this win won’t mean a thing.”

All three state ranked COC Class 4 teams Bolivar, Marshfield and Republic will be participating in the post-season Missouri State High School Activities Association basketball district tournament at Bolivar. A Marshfield win Monday could mean a top seed for the Lady Jays. Since the second and third seeds should face off in the semifinals, the top seed will have a big advantage at District. A Republic win Monday would throw the seeding committee a big curve.

Click on Pics below to enlarge.  Thanks to Missy Burtchett for the photo’s!