Lady Wildcats pick up third place at Sturgeon

STURGEON - The No. 3 seed New Bloomfield Lady Wildcats rediscovered their shooting touch in Friday's 67-37 seventh-place romp over the No. 8 Salisbury Lady Panthers at the 32nd-annual Sturgeon Tournament.

New Bloomfield (13-6) - stopping a two-game losing streak - raced into halftime with a 39-21 advantage. The Lady Wildcats turned the game into a runaway by outscoring Salisbury 28-16 in the second half.

"Our intensity to start the game was better and we played with so much more energy," New Bloomfield head coach Brett Craighead said. "It was a matter of us hitting some shots early on."

Sophomore guard Madi Craighead delivered a game-high 23 points, including five 3-pointers, to spark three players in double figures for the Lady Wildcats. Junior forward Madison Love was responsible for a double-double with 13 points and 13 rebounds, while junior guard Baylee Garrett tallied 12 points.

Abby Naylor topped the Lady Panthers with 13 points.

"We were able to get a lot out of our press," Brett Craighead said. "We slowed them down, made them think and then they didn't get a good shot like they wanted."

New Bloomfield returns to Show-Me Conference play when it hosts South Callaway at 6 p.m. Monday. The Lady Bulldogs captured the Sturgeon title with a 46-43 win over Community R-6 late Friday night.

The Lady Wildcats will be looking to avenge a 68-42 loss to the Lady Bulldogs in the third-place game of the South Callaway Tournament on Jan. 16.

"We have to play like it's the last play we're ever going to play - we have to play hard every single minute," Craighead said. "South Callaway is talented. They have shooters and they can also score from the inside."