KINGDOM CITY - The North Callaway Ladybirds were outscored by the Van-Far Lady Indians 23-10 in the second half of a 41-34 Eastern Missouri Conference loss Wednesday night.
The game was even at 8-all after one quarter, but North Callaway (1-8, 1-2 EMO) outscored Van-Far 16-10 in the second quarter to go into halftime with a 24-18 lead. The Ladybirds were up 28-21 with about 6 minutes left in the third quarter, but the Lady Indians produced the final eight points of the period to take a 29-28 edge.
Van-Far then outscored North Callaway 12-6 in the fourth quarter - going 10-of-12 from the free-throw line - to clinch the win. The Lady Indians finished 18-of-25 from the foul line.
Freshman guard Abrielle Burgher paced the Ladybirds with a game-high 20 points and also came up with five steals.
"We played well in the first half, but Van-Far made free throws when they needed to," North Callaway head coach Morgan Beamer said. "Hopefully we'll get another shot at them at the Bowling Green Tournament (later this month)."
Devyn Keller topped the Lady Indians (3-3, 2-0) with 15 points and Panna Connaway added 10.
The Ladybirds (1-4) won the junior varsity game 13-6 in two quarters.
North Callaway has drawn the seventh seed for next week's South Callaway Tournament. The Ladybirds play No. 2 seed Hermann in the first round at 6:30 p.m. Monday in the high school gym.