High school basketball gets under way
High school basketball season has begun and Ozark County teams competed in games the past week and have a full schedule on tap.
<strong>Gainesville</strong>
The Gainesville Lady Bulldogs began their season Monday night at home against a tough Willow Springs team and fell to the Lady Bears, 53-44.
Leading scorers for Gainesville were Lakyn McGee with 13 and Shaina Naegele with 12. Also scoring for Gainesville were Tali Rose with 7, Morgan Mendoza with 5, Molly Ledbetter with 4 and Alyssa Abraham with 3.
In the JV game, Willow Springs beat Gainesville 27-21. Scoring for Gainesville was Kristen Simpson with 7, Sara Jo Cunningham with 6 and Rebecca Johnson and Brianna Strain with 4 each.
The Lady Bulldogs will head to Mountain Grove Thursday night for a 6 p.m. game, and will host Thayer Monday.
Meanwhile, the boys' team begins their season at 6 p.m. Thursday at Liberty and will play next week in the Mansfield Tournament.
<strong>Bakersfield</strong>
The Bakersfield Lions are off to a rocky start, losing the first two games of the season to Cedar Ridge, Ark. and Thayer. In the game against Cedar Ridge on Friday, the Lions were bested, 78-41.
Leading scorer for Bakersfield was Cory Lamb with 9 points, followed by Kraig Foster with 8, Alex Talley and Shelten Wray with 7 each, Chase Denton with 4 and Michael Williams and Robbie Ingalsbe with 2 each.
In the game against Thayer in the Koshkonong tournament on Monday, Thayer walloped the Lions 53-23, hold Bakersfield scoreless in the second quarter and allowing only 4 points in the first half.
Individual stats from Bakersfield were not provided.
The Lions will play at Chadwick on Dec. 8 and will host Bradleyville on Dec. 9.
Meanwhile the Lady Lions improved to 1-1 on the year after picking up a win over Mansfield Monday night.
The Bakersfield team won big in the battle of the Lady Lions, hammering Mansfield 60-34.
Bakersfield's Betsy Minkler had a stellar night, scoring 22 points, grabbing six boards and collecting three steals. Emma French netted 16, grabbed seven rebounds and had four assists. Sam Kuk chipped in 10 points in the Bakersfield win.
The Lady Lions were reeling from a tough opening-season loss against Midland, Ark., on Friday. Midland edged Bakersfield 69-67.
Bakersfield's girls will play next on Monday night at home against Alton and will travel to Chadwick on Dec. 8.
<strong>Lutie</strong>
The Lutie Indians lost a nail-biter to Sparta on Nov. 22. Sparta had a large crowd on hand for the first game in their new gymnasium and Lutie nearly spoiled their party, but fell 60-55.
Leading scorer for the Indians was Dylan Burks with 16, followed by Thomas Ritter with 12. Chancey Ayers tallied 9 while Josh Daffron chipped in 7. Joe Terry, Tyler Troia and Jake Christeson each had 3 while Caleb Christeson netted 2.
Ayers led Lutie in rebounding with 10.
No report on the girls' game was provided.
The Lady Indians will travel to Cabool Thursday and will host Norwood on Friday night.
The Lutie boys, meanwhile, were competing this week in the Clever Tournament, and will travel to Greenwood on Dec. 6.
<strong>Dora</strong>
The Dora Falcons will open their season Dec. 13, hosting Couch.
Meanwhile, the Lady Falcons opened their season Nov. 21 at Liberty where a tough Lady Eagles team dismantled the Dora squad, 70-32.
Individual stats were not provided.
The Lady Falcons will have plenty of time to heal their wounds, as they host Cabool on Dec. 15.
<p>Gainesville's Shaina Naegele goes up for a buzzer-beating layup
in the first quarter of Monday's game against Willow Springs.
Naegele scored 12 points.</p>
