MOKANE - Sixth-seeded New Bloomfield was outscored by No. 2 Montgomery County 38-11 in a second-half collapse in a matchup between Lady Wildcats in first-round play at the South Callaway Tournament on Monday night.
New Bloomfield (3-7) built a 23-17 advantage after one quarter, but Montgomery County outscored it 20-10 in the second quarter to go in front 37-33 at the break. Montgomery County then took control in the third quarter, outscoring New Bloomfield 23-4 to extend its lead to 61-37.
Junior forward Ellie Emerson topped New Bloomfield with 13 points and sophomore guard Brooklynn Smith contributed 11.
"We played probably our best half of basketball, followed by probably our worst," New Bloomfield head coach Patrick Center said. "Montgomery picked up its intensity in the second half and we didn't match it."
Taylor Flake connected for a game-high 28 points to direct Montgomery County. Samantha Queathem supplied 15 points.
New Bloomfield faces No. 7 seed North Callaway in the consolation semifinals at 5 p.m. today in the high school gym. The Ladybirds bowed to No. 2 seed Hermann in a 58-34 first-round loss Monday night.
"We're going to focus on the positives we had in the first half and try to build off those, and come back ready to play North Callaway," Center said.