The Joplin Globe, Joplin, MO

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January 22, 2013

Southwest girls gain confidence during 4-0 week

By Anvil Welch Globe Sports Writer

— The Southwest High School girls basketball team boosted its stock last week.

The MSHSAA Class 3 Trojans, who climbed to 18-3 by defeating Diamond 49-36 on Monday night, were 4-0 last week

Southwest beat Seneca 55-24 on Jan. 14 before going 3-0 in the round robin Rogersville Tournament on Thursday through Saturday. They handled the Class 4 Wildcats 59-53, Class 5 Springfield Kickapoo 70-64 in overtime and Class 2 Fordland 66-38.

Said Southwest coach Brad Phillips: “There’s no doubt about it. We had a good week. Our kids were ready to play. Definitely, we gained some confidence at Rogersville. We played well.

“We really didn’t know that much about what to expect from Rogersville,” Phillips said. “We had nothing to lose against Kickapoo.”

Southwest was resilient in outlasting Kickapoo, Phillips said. The Chiefs outscored Southwest 22-10 in the fourth quarter to force overtime at 56.

“Kickapoo made a run in that fourth quarter,” Phillips said. “But we had a couple of crucial 3s in the overtime.”

The Mitchell sisters — senior Michaela and sophomore Shannon — led Southwest against Kickapoo with 17 points apiece. Shannon had three treys. Taylor Mettlach scored 12.

The older Mitchell tallied 23 against Fordland and Shannon, who had three more treys, added 13. Southwest extended a 28-17 halftime advantage.

Nicole Ickes and Mettlach each scored 15 points against Rogersville. Jaime Shrum, a freshman, added 13 points and Michaela Mitchell had 11. Shrum had three 3s.

Southwest, in beating Diamond, received six 3s from Shrum. The Trojans pulled away in the fourth quarter by outscoring Brian Brimacombe’s Wildcats 20-10.

“We were fatigued (playing a fourth game in five nights),” Phillips said. “The Diamond zone defense also gave us trouble.”

Junior Cady Littlefield scored 14 points for Diamond in its upset bid.

Southwest is idle until visiting Purdy on Feb. 1 for an Ozark 7 Conference game. Southwest has opened 3-0 in the league.

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