Monett Cubs basketball picks up first win of season against Pierce City

Lady Cubs basketball continues to roll, reach 6-1 record, top Hollister by 15 in contest last week
 
The Monett High School boys and girls basketball teams both played three games each last week, with the Cubs picking up their win of the season and the Lady Cubs taking all three of their games.
Monett traveled to Springfield on Friday, Dec. 12 to take on Willow Springs and came home with a 54-37 loss.
The Bears led 17-10 after the first quarter but a 15-point second quarter, combined with a defense that allowed just two points, gave Willow Springs a 32-12 halftime lead. The Cubs shot well in the third quarter, hitting for 16 points to cut the Bears lead to 43-26. Willow Springs outscored Monett 11-9 in the final quarter of play.
Jack Stephens led Monett with 11 points and Alex Meeks and Brady Rhea both had eight points in the loss.
The Cubs hosted Pierce City on Thursday, Dec. 11 and were able to secure their first win of the year, 47-46.
The Eagles led 18-10 after the first quarter but a 14-point second quarter by the Cubs allowed them to tie the game 24-24 at the half. Monett were able to score 10 points in the third quarter to take a 34-32 lead into the final quarter of play. The Eagles outscored the Cubs 14-13 in the fourth quarter, but Monett was still able to pull out the one-point win.
Stephens led Monett with 23 points and Meeks added 16 points in the win.
“I’m proud of our team and the way they fought last night,” said Head Coach Andrew Ballock. “We played a good defensive game, limiting their easy shots at the rim. Pierce City did a great job switching up defenses causing us to have to adjust. It’s always good to play and win close games early in the season because as the year goes on, our guys will be involved in a lot of close games, so the experience of those close wins will pay dividends for us moving forward.”
Monett started the week by hosting Marshfield on Tuesday, Dec. 9 and fell to the Blue Jays 82-61.
Marshfield led 20-15 after the first quarter and 43-29 by halftime. In the third quarter, Monett scored 20 points, but the Blue Jays answered with 23 points to increase their lead to 66-49. In the final quarter, Marshfield scored 16 points and the Cubs scored 12 points.
Meeks led with 26 points and Stephens had a double-double with 18 points and 10 rebounds.
“We played a really good first quarter, especially offensively, able to get good shots and score some points,” said Ballock. “In the second and third quarters we turned the ball over more than we would have liked leading to transition opportunities for Marshfield which pushed their lead to 17 points going into the fourth quarter. We were able to have some offensive success, but just couldn’t slow them down defensively. Marshfield is a good team, they have a good mix of size around the rim, speed to get out in transition and shooters allowing them to stretch the floor and put defenses in difficult positions.”
Monett is 1-4 on the season and were scheduled to play at Neosho last night and Hollister tomorrow night.
Girls basketball
The Lady Cubs traveled to Spokane on Thursday night and came home with a 55-42 win.
Monett led 19-9 after the first quarter and pushed their lead to 31-23 by halftime. In the third quarter, the Lady Cubs played great defense holding the Lady owls to just eight points while scoring 14 points to increase their lead to 45-31. In the fourth quarter, Spokane outscored Monett 14-10 but the Lady Cubs still secured the 13-point win.
Kilee Wilson led Monett with 20 points, Kalli Hohensee and Meredith Merriman both added 12 points and Avery Stokes ended the contest
with 11 points.
“This was our fifth game in seven days,” said Head Coach Josh Kleine. “We came out a little flat in the first half but had a great third quarter to get the win.”
The Lady Cubs traveled to Neosho on Tuesday night and were able to come home with a 60-44 win.
Monett played stifling defense in the first half allowing just 10 total points to the Lady Wildcats, while scoring 14 points in the first quarter and 18 points in the second quarter to lead 32-10 at the half. In the third quarter, Neosho began to chip away a little at the Lady Cubs lead, by scoring 19 points to cut the deficit to 44-29. Monett answered back in the fourth quarter, outscoring Neosho 16-15.
Merriman and Wilson led Monett with 17 points each and Stokes added 11 points in the win.
Monett began the week hosting Hollister on Monday, Dec. 8 and were able to win the game 59-44.
The Lady Tigers led 13-11 after the first quarter but that would be the only quarter that Hollister would lead in the game. The Lady Cubs outscored Hollister 11-8 in the second quarter to take a 22-21 lead into halftime. Monett clamped down on defense in the third quarter, allowing just eight points to increase their lead to 39-29. A 20-point fourth quarter sealed the win for the Lady Cubs.
Merriman led Monett with 25 points, Hohensee added 11 points and Wilson had 10 points in the victory.
“I’m proud of our team for battling through some adversity in the first half and coming out with a strong performance in the second half.” said Kleine.
Monett is 6-1 on the season and were scheduled to play at Springfield Parkview last night.