By: Jason Peake
With a solid overall performance, Webb City's girls evened their record at 5-5 after a third straight win.
"Overall, I'm pleased with our effort, especially for our first game back," Webb City coach Lance Robbins said. "We saw some positive things to build on. Offensively, I thought we had a nice inside-outside game. Nevada's a very good basketball team. Those two guards (Clara) Swearingen and (Maddy) Majors are a handful. They both score the ball really well and we knew that coming in. I thought we did a pretty good job defensively. We lost them a few times, but I thought we were able to guard them pretty well."
In what could be called a coming out party, Webb City freshman post player Sami Mancini scored a career-high 24 points and also grabbed 10 rebounds. The 6-4 Mancini made 12-of-18 shot attempts and also had three assists.
"I think we saw her grow up tonight," Robbins said. "I thought she did a great job. We've changed up some things we're doing offensively and I think she's more comfortable on the floor."
Also for the Cardinals, senior Kenzie Robbins scored nine points on three treys, junior Kate Brownfield scored six points, sophomore Malorie Stanley contributed five points and junior Izzy Lopez chipped in four.
The Cardinals made 49 percent of their shots (24-of-49).
"Our guards shot the ball well from the perimeter," Robbins said. "We have a lot of different kids who can have a good night offensively. And it's nice to have everybody back and everybody healthy. That's really helped our depth and that makes us better in practice."
A sophomore guard, Swearingen scored 19 points and hit four 3-pointers to lead Nevada, while junior guard Majors added 10 points. The Tigers (7-3) made 11-of-47 field goal attempts (23 percent).
In their first action since Dec. 20, the Cardinals put together a 17-2 run in the first half that allowed them to pull away for good.
Converting in the paint again and again, Mancini scored 10 of Webb City's 13 points in the opening period.
The Cardinals received two 3-pointers from Kenzie Robbins and another from Stanley in the second quarter before points from Lopez and Brownfield gave Webb City a 32-17 halftime advantage.
Hoops from Mancini, Austyn Mickey and Kirra Long pushed Webb City's lead to 20 at 44-24 in the third quarter. That lead was never in jeopardy in the fourth period.
Webb City (5-5) hosts Logan-Rogersville on Thursday night.