KINGDOM CITY - Despite their gritty effort, the North Callaway Ladybirds' comeback attempt came up short against the Clopton Lady Hawks.
After building an 18-7 lead after the first quarter, Clopton held off North Callaway 47-42 in an Eastern Missouri Conference clash Thursday night.
"My girls showed that they're mentally tough and that they'll never give up," Ladybirds head coach Morgan Beamer said. "But they jumped out to an 11-0 run on us and that's tough.
"At that point I had to tell the girls you can either surrender and give up, or you can toughen up and play ball. That's what they ended up doing, but it wasn't enough."
After committing seven turnovers in the opening period, North Callaway (9-7, 3-2 EMO) relied on its defense to clamp down on Clopton and get back in the contest.
Junior guard Kenzie Ausfahl picked off an errant pass and knocked down the transition layup to bring the Ladybirds within 19-14.
After North Callaway forced three more turnovers, senior forward Kyla Bertschinger's 3-pointer from the top of the key cut the deficit to 27-26 just before halftime.
The Ladybirds would take their first lead of the contest after another Ausfahl layup moved them ahead 30-29 with 6 minutes, 20 seconds to go in the third quarter.
After that score, though, the two teams would combine for just nine points the rest of the period as the respective defenses locked in.
Senior forward Allie Schlueter broke a 34-all tie to give North Callaway the edge with a putback off an Ausfahl miss, but Clopton would quickly take the lead back with a 3-pointer from senior guard Maya Street.
After the Lady Hawks went up 40-36, North Callaway knocked down four straight free throws to pull even with 2:30 remaining.
However, Clopton would deliver the back-breaking blow on the ensuing possession. After rebounding two missed shots, junior center Calynn Lockhard found wide-open junior guard Jillian Lockard for a corner 3.
After Lockard's key basket, the Lady Hawks made just enough free throws and defensive plays defensively to keep the Ladybirds at bay.
Ausfahl paced North Callaway with 15 points, while Bertschinger added 13.
The No. 2 seed Ladybirds face No. 7 Louisiana at 5:30 p.m. Monday in the first round of the Bowling Green Tournament. The game will be played in the middle school gym.
"Hopefully next week we're able to get another crack at Clopton," Beamer said. "We wanted the No. 1 seed, so I told the girls you're still an underdog.
"But if we played like we have been, for the most part, I think we can compete and possibly win a championship."
Stevie Johnson can be reached at (573) 826-2423, or on Twitter @Stevie_FSun.