CLARKSVILLE, Mo. - The North Callaway Ladybirds committed a season-high 38 turnovers as they suffered their first Eastern Missouri Conference loss of the season to the undefeated, state-ranked Clopton Lady Hawks on Tuesday night.
North Callaway (10-5, 4-1 EMO) trailed 16-7 after the first quarter and faced a 30-16 deficit at halftime. Clopton (14-0, 4-0) - ranked No. 1 in Class 2 - outscored the Ladybirds 10-7 in the third quarter to open up a 40-23 advantage.
"Their pressure got to us in the first half and turnovers kind of killed us," North Callaway head coach Morgan Beamer said. "They got up in our face and trapped the ball a lot."
Sophomore guard Kenzie Ausfahl paced the Ladybirds with 17 points and four assists. Junior forward Allie Schlueter provided 10 points and nine rebounds, while senior forward Sam Schaefer recorded six points and a team-high 13 rebounds.
Ashtyn Lagemann topped Clopton with a game-high 18 points and Kaitlyn Kuntz tallied 12.
North Callaway (0-9) lost the junior varsity game 33-26. Freshman guard Daelyn Schmauch finished with a team-high 11 points.
The Ladybirds will be the No. 3 seed in the Bowling Green Tournament next week. North Callaway squares off against No. 6 seed Winfield in the first round at 5:30 p.m. Monday. The game will be played in the middle school gym.
"We have to put the ball in the hole," Beamer said. "We need to come up with something to fix that."