Lady Cardinals suffer late collapse to Lewis & Clark

PARK HILLS — For the last 10 minutes of the first half the Mineral Area Lady Cardinals were unstoppable and untouchable, but what goes around comes around as the Lewis & Clark Lady Trailblazers performed in like manner for the second half to keep their undefeated season intact with a 69-60 win.

Mineral Area finished off the first half with a 23-5 run to take a 32-21 lead into the locker room at the break. Starting the second period with a conventional three by Hanna Vette, the Lady Cardinals seemed to have things well under control, but the Lady Trailblazers defense and Dinelle Cormier had plenty to say about the game’s final outcome.

Cormier came off the bench to replace their center with fourth fouls. Cormier established an inside game, scoring all 15 of her points in a 10-minute stint.

The visitors picked up their aggressiveness on defense, forcing turnover after turnover by the Lady Cardinals and after Vette’s opener they took only eight minutes to surpass the dazzled Lady Cardinals to take the lead at 46-44. Lewis & Clark swiped the ball 18 times in the game with 13 coming in the second half.

Mineral Area (1-3) turned the ball over 10 times in the first 10 minutes of the second half, finishing with a total of 29 in the game. Lewis & Clark used MAC’s mistakes to their advantage, scoring 22 of their points off of the turnovers.

The Lady Cardinals capitalized on the Lady Trailblazers 18 turnovers for a total of eight points.

The Lady Cardinals fell behind early in the game with Katherine Riggins doing most of the damage with two steals and nine points for Lewis & Clark for a 13-5 lead, and MAC called time to figure out a way o break the visiting team’s press. They were successful.

Mineral Area went on a 12-point run to establish their first lead, which they would hold until Lewis & Clark’s second-half takeover. The Lady Cardinals made seven steals in the first half of play with point-guard Taylor Jensen leading the way with four of her game’s five.

Emily Brumitt did damage from the perimeter with a pair of threes and Vette and Kayla Tisza hit for one each. Sonya Milford took over under the boards, pulling down five of her team-high seven rebounds in the first half.

The Lady Trailblazers dominated the second half of play, scoring on 21 trips down the court, while Mineral Area was only able to connect on 11 trips to their end of the floor.

Leola Hubbard provided the scoring highlights for Mineral Area in the second half. Coming off the bench in the second half, Hubbard found her spot at the left wing hitting three threes in the final minutes along with two free throws to score all of her team-high 11 points.

Hubbard’s threes could not make up the lost ground as Mineral Area was forced to foul as time wound down, and Lewis & Clark went 8-9 from the line to keep their substantial lead.

Mineral Area will play their next contest on Friday in the Kirkwood-Iowa Classic against John Wood.

Lewis & Clark  21 48 – 69

Mineral Area  32 28 – 60

Scoring:

Lewis & Clark – Riggins 18, Cormier 15, Cox 11, Mars, 8, Dominguez 8, Pelleg 4, Holland 2, Brown 2, Tribbet 1. 3 ptrs- Riggins 2, Cormier.

Mineral Area – Hubbard 11, Vette 10, Brummitt 8, Evans 8, Jensen 7, Milford 4, Barnes 4, Oertel 3, Tisza 3, White 2. 3-ptrs- Hubbard 3, Brummitt 2, Tisza.