The Lady Pintos took on the Eldon Lady Mustangs for the consolation prize in the Tri-County Tournament in Boonville Friday night.
It was a back-and-forth game from the tip-off and the outcome hung in the balance until the final seconds. But, the Lady Pintos won the game 53-48 to take fifth place in the tournament.
The Lady Pintos began the tournament against the Hallsville Lady Indians (4-1). After taking an eight-point lead into the second half, California watched the lead and the game slip away due to turnovers and miscommunication on defense. Hallsville came back and upset California 52-45.
The loss knocked California into the consolation bracket, but they responded to the loss by soundly defeating the Versailles Lady Tigers (0-4) 79-20 in the consolation bracket semifinals.
California now looked to finish the tournament by taking a trophy back home. But to do so, they would have to defeat an aggressive Eldon team. Eldon (3-2) was defeated by Blair Oaks (2-3) 63-53 in the opening round but responded by routing School of the Osage 82-34 last Wednesday.
Head coach Bobby Sangster said he and his staff knew that even though Eldon was only the No. 6 seed in the tournament, they were still dangerous. While the Lady Mustangs did lack in size, they made up for that size in execution.
The game began with both teams relying on their defenses to create opportunities. Lady Pintos guard Bailey Lage had been quiet during the first two games of the tournament on offense. In the first quarter against Eldon, Lage was quiet no longer.
Lage scored the first seven California points on a floater, three-pointer and layup, respectively. She then broke down the Eldon defense to set up Trishelle Porter for a three-pointer of her own, forcing Eldon to take an early timeout with California up 10-3. The timeout allowed the Lady Mustangs to adjust their defense and force California into multiple turnovers. Eldon came all the way back and held an 11-10 lead after the first quarter.
The second quarter went back-and-forth for the most part. California scored four quick points in the final 90 seconds to tie the game at 19-19 as the first half came to a close.
In the second half, the Lady Pintos looked to get back to form, as they had not played their brand of basketball in the first half. Instead, most of the third quarter played just like second, with both teams fighting for control and Eldon always in striking distance. With two minutes left in the third and the score tied, the Lady Pintos rallied for a 9-0 run and forced Eldon to take a timeout.
California almost doubled their point total from the first half in the third quarter alone. The 9-0 run gave the Lady Pintos a 37-33 lead going into the fourth quarter.
Foul troubles plagued both teams in the fourth quarter, as they again battled back and forth for control of the contest. With the score tied at 46, California had the ball and Eldon fouled senior Trishelle Porter. Porter lined up at the free-throw line and knocked down both free throws to give California a 48-46 lead.
Later, up by three with 1:02 left in the game, Sangster made a wise decision in choosing to run time off of the clock instead of looking for a shot. The Lady Pintos kept the ball long enough to take more than 40 seconds off the clock before Eldon fouled junior Lauren Friedrich with 15.7 seconds left. Friedrich made both her free throws to give the Pintos a five-point lead.
Eldon scored a quick field goal with 3.5 seconds left and called timeout. Afterwards, Bailey Lage got the inbounds pass following the timeout and was fouled with 1.2 seconds left, with her team once against up by three. Lage iced the game by making both free throws and California walked away with a 53-48 win and the consolation trophy.
Lage and Friedrich each scored 12 points to lead the Lady Pintos.
Sangster said every time his team competes in the Tri-County Conference Tournament, they want to always try and win at least two games to bring a trophy back home with them. Though it may not have been the grand prize trophy, Sangster said you've got to take the good with the bad all the same.
"You know, you've got to appreciate every trophy that you can get. The team that we lost to (last) Monday night is playing for the championship, and good on them," Sangster said. "This conference is as tough as any conference in Class 3 or Class 4 in Mid-Missouri. I'm proud of our conference, I'm proud of our trophy, and I'm proud of our girls tonight. They did a great job."
In their win against Eldon, multiple Lady Pintos stepped up and delivered when Sangster needed them the most. But California will need to make significant changes, Sangster said, such as remembering their coverages and putting just as much focus on defending the ball as they do to the opposing players.
"There's always so much of that that goes through your mind. I messed up a couple of calls and got them cross-matched a few times," Sangster admitted. "Once we locked those things down, I put the girls in a position to have success. They took to it. We're still young in the season. We're still figuring things out. I'm figuring this team out. The more time we have together, the better off we will be."
The Lady Pintos now sit with a 3-1 record. Following a game at Montgomery County (3-1) on Tuesday, they will travel to Russellville (2-3) to take on the Lady Indians on Thursday, then return home next Tuesday for a conference matchup against Southern Boone (4-0).