After taking revenge on Jefferson City with a score of 75-67 on Feb. 24 for the district title, the girls continued to the sectional championships and beat Waynesville (12-17) in Rolla 64-18 Feb. 29.
Senior Nicole Montgomery said the girls got off to a tough start, struggling to score points early on in the game because of a lack of enthusiasm. Knowing that Waynesville was a team they would beat, Montgomery said the Bruins did not have their usual cohesiveness on the court.
“We got off to a rough start,” Montgomery said. “In the beginning, we didn’t have much energy from the crowd or enough energy from within ourselves.”
However, as the girls got their bearings, their competitive edge took over, leading them to a shocking 46 point win. After Waynesville beat both West Plains and Rolla in their district tournament, Montgomery had assumed they wouldn’t go down without a fight.
“We expected to win, but we knew we couldn’t take advantage of them and still had to play all out,” senior Nicole Montgomery said. “We knew that Waynesville was on a recent win streak, and they had a momentum swing but it feels awesome winning sectionals by so much.”
The Bruins will take on Ozark (25-4) next Thursday, March 8 at 6 p.m. in Springfield. They will play with hopes of winning the quarterfinal game which will determine their attendance at the state championships.
Ozark, the team the Bruins beat in overtime 50-45 in December for the KTXR Lady Classic, is a formidable opponent for the girls’ basketball team; the girls have already seen that Ozark has the ability to compete with them. Montgomery said she and her teammates know they will have to be mentally prepared in order to conquer the competition next week.
“We’re all really excited but we also know it will take a lot of work to beat [Ozark],” Montgomery said. “They will be ready for revenge. They will be after us. So we need to bee ready to play our game and give it all we have. We’re ready.”
By Emily Wright
