MOBERLY, Mo. - The New Bloomfield Lady Wildcats were rattled at the outset of Saturday afternoon's Class 2 quarterfinal game.
New Bloomfield did not make a shot until the beginning of the second quarter and the Lady Wildcats were manhandled by the state-ranked Scotland County Lady Tigers in a season-ending 54-23 blitz at Moberly Area Community College.
New Bloomfield made just three of its 15 shots in the first half and committed 15 of its 20 turnovers during that span. The Lady Wildcats ended up shooting a dismal 24 percent (9-of-37) for the game.
"Nerves, a lot of it was nerves," New Bloomfield head coach Brett Craighead said. "That start is what hurt us. They (Lady Tigers) have lots of people you have to guard. They're good inside, they're good outside.
"I knew it was going to be tough, but I was hoping we'd hit a few more shots and get off to a better start."
New Bloomfield (23-7) trailed 18-2 with 6 minutes, 19 seconds to go in the second quarter before senior guard Baylee Garrett made the Lady Wildcats' first basket.
Garrett's shot initiated a 7-0 run for the Lady Wildcats, who cut Scotland County's lead in half at 18-9 and forced the Lady Tigers to take a timeout with 3:51 left in the period.
"We got down on them and I said, 'We just need to chip it away, cut it in half and you never know what could happen after that,'" Craighead said.
Scotland County (27-1) - ranked fifth in the state - regrouped and closed out the half with an 8-0 run to push its lead to 26-9 at the break. New Bloomfield turned the ball over six times and missed two shots during that stretch.
The Lady Wildcats looked more poised at the start of the second half, but the Lady Tigers still outscored them 16-9 in the third quarter to stretch their advantage to 42-18.
Junior guard Madi Craighead topped New Bloomfield with eight points.
Senior guard Calesse Bair directed Scotland County - which shot 45 percent (20-of-44) from the field - with a game-high 19 points. Senior forward Chelsea Wood provided 17 points.
"I knew they had a good guard and the girl in the post we were going to have to try to stop. She (Wood) is a load," Brett Craighead said. "When they have that kind of guard play and post play, it makes it tough."
Brett Craighead - whose win total this season was a career high - said he was proud of his players' performances and hoped they would understand that they had a noteworthy year.
"They won't realize it right now, but next week they'll realize what they did," he said. "I think once they've had some time to let it soak in, they'll realize they had a pretty good season.
"After you lose a game like this, it's hard to think about it that way, but after they've had some time to think about it, they'll realize the good year they had."
Scotland County plays the Skyline Lady Tigers in the Class 2 semifinals at 8:20 p.m. Thursday at the Hearnes Center in Columbia. Skyline (29-2) - ranked No. 1 in the state - pounded Pierce City 67-24 in quarterfinal play Saturday in Springfield.