The Joplin Globe, Joplin, MO

High School Sports

Discussion

January 24, 2013

Schremmer: OT win a 'relief' for Columbus

By Mark Schremmer Globe Sports Writer

As far as overtime wins go, it didn’t have the typical celebratory feel.

The Columbus Titans girls basketball team held on for a 42-41 overtime victory against the St. Mary’s-Colgan Panthers on Tuesday night after leading by 10 points going into the fourth quarter.

“It was more like kind of a relief I think,” Columbus coach Marty Atnip said. “It was kind of a grind-it-out fourth quarter and overtime, and I think we were relieved to get the victory. But it was a good win.”

Colgan’s Aliee Story hit a 3-pointer at the end of regulation to tie the game at 40 and force an overtime.

Neither team made a field goal in overtime, and the game was tied at 41 with the clock winding down. Columbus sophomore Olivia Murdock was fouled while attempting a 3-pointer at the buzzer. Murdock made her first free-throw attempt with no time left, and the Titans sealed the win.

The victory improved Columbus to 7-5 overall and 1-1 in what appears to be a wide-open CNC race. Colgan dropped to 7-4 and 0-1.

“It’s been a good move for us,” Atnip said of leaving the larger SEK League for the CNC. “We would have been the smallest school in the SEK. Even though the CNC is smaller, it’s a really strong league. Any of the eight teams can beat anybody on any given night.”

The Titans are a young squad as they start three sophomores and two juniors. Their main bench rotation includes a junior, sophomore and freshman as there isn’t a senior on the roster.

But Atnip said his young players are showing signs of improvement.

“Especially after Christmas break, we’ve started to play a lot more consistent,” he said. “With young teams there are times when you will play really good, but there are other times when the inexperience will show. The team is starting to be a lot more consistent.”

The Titans boast a balanced scoring attack with junior Katrina Froebe, sophomore Lauren Anderson, Murdock and sophomore Madi Evans all averaging between 8 and 10 points.

“We don’t have a superstar, but we have four girls who can give us 15 points on any given night,” Atnip said.

Columbus will continue league play Friday night at Galena.

Carthage on a roll

After dropping four consecutive games to solid teams at the Neosho Holiday Classic, the Carthage boys had a 3-9 record.

Since then, the Tigers have won five of their past seven games.

Carthage (8-11) is coming off a convincing 72-40 home win against McDonald County on Tuesday night.

Jaryd Coss and Anthony Turk led Carthage with 13 points each, while Nathan Reid added 11.

The Tigers will try to continue their hot streak as they travel to face Mount Vernon on Tuesday.

Speakman leads Cassville to win

Emily Speakman paced the Cassville girls with 27 points in a 47-38 win over Verona on Tuesday night.

Cassville outscored Verona 19-9 in the final quarter to earn the victory.

The win improved the Wildcats to 10-8 on the season.

Cassville was coming off a second-place finish at the Galena Lady Bear Classic. The Wildcats fell 51-45 to Sparta in the championship.

Text Only
High School Sports