Lady Cub basketballers finish fifth in Crane tourney, look to Spokane

Monett boys’ basketball falls to Carthage Tigers, still looking for first victory in early season action
 
The Monett High School girls’ basketball team traveled to Crane last week to compete in the Sixth Annual Lady Pirates Invitational coming home with a fifth place finish.
The Lady Cubs defeated Hollister in the Consolation game of the tournament on Saturday, Dec. 6, 55-47. Hollister held 18-11 after the first quarter and that would be the last quarter that the Lady Tigers would lead. Monett scored 18 points in the second quarter to take a 29-25 lead. Both teams scored 9 points each in the third quarter before Monett put the game away with a 17-point fourth quarter.
Meredith Merriman led Monett with 29 points and Kilee Wilson added 11 points in the win.
“We had a tough loss the first round, but we bounced back and finished the tournament strong with two wins,”said Head Coach Josh Kleine.  
Monett reached the Consolation game by defeating Galena easily on Friday, Dec. 5, 65-27. The Lady Cubs led 20-3 after the first quarter and 45-9 at the half. Monett would outscore Galena 20-18 in the second half to win the game by 38 points.
Wilson led Monett with 19 points and Avery Stokes added 16 points in the win.
The Lady Cubs opened the tournament on Tuesday, Dec. 2 but lost to Pierce City 68-56.
Monett led 17-16 after the first quarter and 32-29 at the half. The Lady Eagles answered back in the third quarter, outscoring Monett 24-12 in the third quarter to take a 53-44 lead into the final quarter of play. In the fourth quarter, Pierce City added another 15 points to secure the 12-point win.
Stokes led Monett with 14 points, Wilson added 13 points and Merriman finished the game with 12 points.
The Lady Cubs are 3-1 on the season and were scheduled to host Hollister on Monday before traveling to Neosho last night and Spokane tomorrow night.

Boys’ basketball
The Monett High School boys‚‘ basketball team hosted Carthage on Thursday, Dec. 4 and fell to the Tigers 59-40.
Carthage led 13-10 after the first quarter and 26-20 at the half. In the third quarter, the Tigers added another 13 points to increase their lead to 39-28. A 20-point fourth quarter put the game out of reach for the Cubs as they would score just 12 points in the fourth.
Jack Stephens led Monett with 15 points and Alex Meeks added 12 points in the loss.
“We played a really good first half, especially defensively not giving up easy shots,” said Head Coach Andrew Ballock. “We had a stretch in the second half where we struggled to score, mixed in with some turnovers, which allowed Carthage to get some easy buckets and extend their lead. Our guys battled and played hard for four quarters, saw a lot of good things, and I’m excited to continue to build with this group.”
Monett is 0-2 on the season and were scheduled to host Pierce City tomorrow night before heading to Willow Springs on Friday night.