By Anvil Welch
awelch@joplinglobe.com
Glendale’s inside-out combination of Kaley Lyons and Emily Cline ultimately was too much for Joplin to overcome Wednesday night in a girls prep basketball game in Kaminsky Gymnasium.
Lyons, an aggressive 5-foot-11 junior, finished with 15 points and 17 rebounds. Cline, perhaps as aggressive a 5-7 freshman, scored 24 points as the Falcons won the Ozark Conference makeup game 52-37.
But Joplin coach Erin Jones wasn’t that unhappy with the performance of the Eagles (6-17, 1-7) in their last home game of the season.
“We played well once we got over their physical play and our trying to do the same,” Jones said.
Added Glendale coach Renee Temple: “I thought Joplin overall did a solid job.”
Said Jones: “We didn’t rebound very well. Lyons, of course, dominated the boards. Definitely, Cline did the same good job. She’s very intelligent with her game — as well as strong — for a freshman.
“We also committed 22 turnovers and that’s more than we’ve been having in recent games,” Jones said.
But Joplin trailed by just eight points at 33-25 after a basket by Kayla Thaman with about 41/2 minutes remaining in the third quarter. The Falcons then expanded a 41-29 advantage entering the fourth.
“We did a great job attacking and penetrating,” Temple said. “We were able to consistently get the ball inside.”
Youth-dominated Glendale, which recently knocked off Kickapoo, improved to 11-11, 6-2.
Joplin, which trailed 11-6 after one quarter, caught up 11-11 on a 3-point play by May Lee. But the Falcons responded to take the lead for good on hoops by Cline and 6-1 sophomore Ellie Webb.
Lyons and Cline each scored nine points to key the Falcons’ 25-19 lead at halftime.
Joplin’s Jessica Hill, a 5-11 junior, finished with 12 points, five rebounds, three assists and four blocked shots.
Lee, a 5-6 sophomore, tallied nine in a reserve role and drew praise from Jones.
“She did a good job with just two varsity quarters (after scoring 14 for the junior varsity),” Jones said.
Notes: Joplin recognized its only senior, Samantha Phillips, who’s been sidelined several games with an ACL injury. ... Joplin finishes its regular season tonight by visiting West Plains. The Eagles, in the Class 5 District 12 Tournament at Kickapoo, tackle Nixa at 7:30 p.m. on Monday. Neosho and Parkview clash in the 6 p.m. game. ... Glendale’s Webb is the granddaughter of Larry Atwood (long-time director of the Greenwood Blue and Gold Tournament). Atwood guided Buffalo to the Class M title in 1965 with Chuck Williams, former Missouri Southern men’s coach, one of the standouts as a sophomore.
