Wildcat girls down Crest

MORAN — Kailey Boyd quickly scored four points midway through the fourth period here Friday night to ice the Marmaton Valley girls’ victory over Crest High, 41-27.
Boyd’s mini-outburst came on a runner in the lane that swished with 4:20 remaining in the game. She added a pair of free throws 10 seconds later, when she was fouled putting up a shot after swiping the ball as the point of Marmaton Valley’s effective full-court press.
That upped the Wildcats’ lead to 31-22.
“I thought we were a little sluggish coming out of the (holiday) break,” Coach Kent Houk said afterward, but he would have had difficulty getting Crest faithful to concur with his observation.
Game-long, it was the Wildcats’ full-court pressure and tenacious defense in the halfcourt that turned the contest their way. The Lancers turned the ball over often, including several anxiety-induced unforced errors.
“Yeah, they had quite a few turnovers,” Houk allowed. “We had some, too, but not as many as we have had.”
The victory improved Marmaton Valley’s record to 4-3, with its next outing at St. Paul Tuesday evening.
While Boyd was offensive late — eight of her 10 points came in the fourth period — Mackenzie Tynon’s scoring kept the Wildcats in the lead earlier.
Tynon made six-of-six at the stripe in the first period and added five points in the second period for 11 of her game-high 13 points.
Often, though, the game plodded along at the offense ends.
Crest took the early lead when Madison Covey hit a short jumper 75 seconds into the contest. Tynon then sank her six first-period free throws before Kacie Shadden hit Marmaton Valley’s first field goal with just over two minutes remaining in the first frame.
Crest’s Kurston Gilliland, a 5-foot-11 senior, tied the game at 10 at the 6:18 mark of the second period, before a Boyd two-pointer and three more free throws from Tynon put the homestanding Wildcats back in charge.
Gilliland led Crest with 10 points, with six coming in the third period. Covey added eight.

(Crest High 8-6-6-7-27)
(Marmaton Valley 10-7-8-16-41)
Crest (FG-FT-F-PT): Covey 4-0-4-8; Rodriguez 1-0-0-2; Strickler 0-3-3-3; Gilliland 4-2-3-10; LaCross 2-0-0-4; Seabolt 0-0-5-0; Kellar 0-0-5-0. Totals: 11-5-20-27.
Marmaton Valley (FG-FT-F-PT): Ensminger 1-1-3-3; Mann 0-0-0-0; Cavender 1-0-0-2; Boyd 3-4-3-10; Shadden 1-5-3-7; Meiwes 2-0-1-4; Louk 0-0-0-0; Olson 1-0-1-2; Tynon 2-9-3-13; Hamlin 0-0-0-0. Totals: 11-19-14-41.