The injury-depleted West Prairie/ Southeastern Lady Cyclones battled Elmwood for one half before the visiting Trojans managed to pull away after intermission to take a 43-26 Prairieland Conference crossover victory in Colchester Monday night.
Playing without the services of junior center Kara Stephens and sophomore post Payton McGrew, WP/SE trailed by only six at halftime but was eventually worn down by the physical inside play of Elmwood in the second half.
The Cyclones led only once in the contest and that came on a Madelynn Sullivan 3-pointer to put WP/SE up 4-1.
But the Trojans answered with back-to-back treys from Corinne Colgan and Natalie Babcock to grab a 7-4 lead and were never headed.
Despite only the one field goal, WP/SE trailed by just 11-6 after one quarter before both teams exchanged baskets to start the second period including consecutive 3-pointers from Sullivan to close within 13-12.
Elmwood would go on a 7-0 run capped by a trey from Alexis Begner but Alyvia Barkley outscored the visitors 4-2 in the final minute to bring the Cyclones to within 22-16 at the half.
WP/SE head coach Grant Bland was pleased with his team’s performance in the opening half despite being short-handed.
“I really liked the way we were playing defense,” said Bland. “The big thing for us is the second chance points for the other team. We talked about rebounding more and that’s a big emphasis especially when you have to go with a smaller lineup.”
Elmwood’s defense tightened in the third quarter after Babcock opened with another 3-pointer to extend the Trojans’ lead to 25-16.
The Cyclones would manage only a Barkley jumper in the period as Elmwood led 31-18 going into the fourth quarter.
Elmwood would outscore WP/ SE 12-8 over the last eight minutes to secure the win and improve to 15-8 for the season.
“As much as you want everybody to be healthy and ready to go, that’s not always the case,” said Bland. “We told them that it’s one of those games that battle tests you a little bit.”
“Maicyn Shipman played some big minutes tonight and really did a good job. I’m really proud of her,” he added.
Sullivan and Barkley shared scoring honors for WP/SE (13-12) with 10 points apiece while Shipman, Emily Martin and Ashlynn Kelley finished with two points each.
Brooke Allen led Elmwood with 14 points.
Even with the loss and already seeing his team double its win total from last year, Bland is pleased with his team’s performance this season but knows tough times are ahead.
“I’m so happy. It’s almost like exceeding expectations in a way,” said Bland. “But I told them to not be content with this yet. You’ve still got some winnable games to get some momentum going in a couple of weeks with regionals. We just want to keep playing hard and prepare for that.”
In the JV contest, Elmwood defeated WP/SE by a 39-23 score.
Braelyn Reeves led the Cyclones with eight points while Alyvia Barkley added six.
Others in the scoring column were Chloe Cutsinger, Josie Hodges, Addy Stanberry and Ashlynn Kelley with two points each and Charlee Kindhart finished with one point.
Layla Strom led Elmwood with a game-high 18 points.
