DIAMOND, Mo. — Diamond hosted Pierce City for a Southwest Conference girls basketball contest Monday, and the visiting Eagles used a hot start to claim a 64-39 victory.
The Wildcats (7-18) saw themselves in an early hole as turnovers and hot shooting by Pierce City (18-6) had the scoreboard showing 12-0 in favor of the visitors.
Diamond fought back to only be trailing 27-24 at halftime. Pierce City struggled defensively as it was called for more than 10 fouls in the second period, and the Wildcats took advantage, outscoring the Eagles 13-8.
The second half was all Eagles on the way to the 25-point win.
Scoring began with a 3-pointer by Pierce City’s Paige Fenske. The next Eagle basket saw Faron Linn get a steal and layup. After another steal, Fenske was at the free-throw line and made good on both attempts. Another takeaway by Linn led to a midrange jumper that she swished. Another triple by Fenske took the lead to 12 points and forced Diamond into an early timeout.
Diamond scored out of the timeout, getting its first 2 points after six miscues.
Pierce City responded with a trey by Linn to go up 15-2 — its largest lead of the opening frame.
Diamond trimmed the gap to 8 points at the end of the first eight minutes, at 19-11.
Dawson Housh and Lilly Hoyer led the charge for the Wildcats in the second. Housh got a layup to start the period and later drilled a 3-pointer, which cut the lead to just 5 points at 24-19. A layup from Hoyer late in the period made it 27-23 in favor of Pierce City. Hoyer was fouled but missed the free throw. Right before the halftime buzzer sounded, Hoyer was back at the free-throw line, where she made 1 of 2 charities to cut the deficit to 3 points.
Housh and Hoyer finished the second with 5 points each.
Diamond stuck around for a moment in the third stanza. Housh made another triple and got her team within 2 points at 29-27. But Pierce City’s Fenske responded with another trey of her own to get the lead back to 5.
Leading 34-29, Linn got the Eagles’ offense going with a 3-pointer. Then teammate Payton Copeland added two free throws. After a layup from Housh, Copeland made a layup through a foul. She missed her free throw, but Pierce City led 41-31. The Eagles scored the next 5 points, and Linn made another 3-pointer to make it 46-31.
Pierce City’s lead was as much as 23 points and then reserves started to come in for both teams. The Eagles’ Layla Jones and Hadley Barchak added late baskets off the bench to cap the 64-39 win.
The Eagles were led by Linn’s 21 points and Fenske’s 20. Housh led the Wildcats with 13, and Hoyer added 12.
Both teams prepare for the Class 3 District 11 tournament next week at Diamond. The Eagles are seeded second and the Wildcats fifth. Diamond faces No. 4 Sarcoxie at 6:30 p.m. Monday. Diamond lost 51-43 last Thursday at Sarcoxie.