MORAN—Tough defense leads to good offense. That was the story of the game here Tuesday night for Marmaton Valley High’s Wildcats as they came from behind to earn their second victory of the season.
The Wildcats struggled against Chetopa High’s Lady Hornets for three quarters but a 23-point fourth gave Marmaton Valley a late lead that it wouldn’t give back. The Marmaton Valley girls won 52-37.
The offensive struggles plaguing the Wildcats all year showed up again early on in Tuesday’s game and the Lady Hornets took a 10-4 lead into the second period.
Wildcat head coach Kent Houk said extra effort on defense in the second period got his team back in the game. The increased defense intensity paid off on both ends of floor and the Wildcats found themselves within one point, 21-20, of Chetopa at the break.
“I told them at halftime, ‘If you want to win this, it’s yours to win. You just have to go out and get it,’” Houk said.
Despite the halftime pep talk, the Wildcat girls couldn’t keep their second-period pace and remained down by one heading into the final quarter of play.
Again, Houk said the girls turned to their defensive play as they looked to rally for the win.
“They played a lot better defense than they have all year,” he said. “They were seeing the lanes and getting the steals and fastbreaks.”
Those steals and the offense that resulted led to a 23-7 Wildcat run to end the game, the highest output of offense in a quarter for the Marmaton Valley girls basketball team in recent history.
“That’s the best quarter I’ve ever had in four years of coaching here,” Houk said.
Offensive leaders for the Wildcats were Kacie Shadden with a game-high 16 points and Kailey Boyd with 13 points.
Chetopa’s high scorers were Kayla Underwood and Emily Johnson with 12 and 10 points respectively.
Marmaton Valley (4-16-9-23—52): Ensminger 2-4-4-8, Cavendar 1-2-3-4, Boyd 4-5-4-13, Shadden 5-6-2-16, Meiwes 0-2-1-2, Ford 2-2-2-6, Olson 0-1-0-1, Lance 1-0-4-2. TOTALS: 9/2-4-19-28.
Chetopa (10-11-9-7—37) (FG/3-pt): Conard 1-1-2-3, Underwood 2/2-2-5-12, Johnson 4-2-4-10, Kepner 1-1-1-3, Jackson 2-1-2-5, Carrell 1-2-5-4, Kabrey 0-0-5-0. TOTALS: 11/2-9-24-37.
