MOKANE, Mo. -After losing to the No. 7 seed Montgomery County Lady Wildcats in the seventh-place game of the South Callaway Tournament on Thursday night, the No. 4 North Callaway Ladybirds have dropped three in a row after a six-game winning streak.
North Callaway (8-4) - which won at Montgomery County in a 55-51 Eastern Missouri Conference triumph Jan. 5 - trailed 19-7 after the first quarter Thursday night and faced a 38-26 deficit at halftime. The Ladybirds outscored the Lady Wildcats 12-9 in the third quarter, but were still behind 47-38 heading into the final 8 minutes.
"We played well in the second half, but didn't shoot well in the first half," North Callaway head coach Morgan Beamer said. "Montgomery County couldn't miss - they were red-hot."
Junior guard Kyla Bertschinger made all six of her free throws to lead the Ladybirds with 18 points and nine rebounds. The Ladybirds shot 17-of-18 from the free-throw line.
Junior forward Allie Schlueter and junior guard Nicole Emmons tallied 12 points apiece for North Callaway. Senior forward Sam Schaefer scored eight points and pulled down a team-high 16 rebounds.
Schlueter was selected to the all-tournament second team.
Sophomore guard Anna Henke connected on four 3-pointers to guide the Lady Wildcats (6-7) with a game-high 25 points, 19 coming in the first half. Junior forward Kayla Schmidt added 13 points.
North Callaway hosts a makeup game against Fayette at 6 p.m. Monday.