NEOSHO, Mo. -- The biggest question entering the second half of Springdale High's game Monday was whether a Lady Bulldog player would be able to outscore Forrest City by herself.
Junior Ryann Goodsell and sophomore Peanut Brown each had 10 as Springdale jumped out to a commanding 42-8 lead at intermission.
How They Scored
Springdale High 64, Forrest City 26
Forrest City^3^5^14^4^—^26
Springdale^19^23^17^5^—^64
Forrest City: Hawkins 9, Ray 7, Thompson 3, Moody 2, Jones 2, Joiner 2, Norment 1.
Springdale (7-3): Pe. Brown 14, Goodsell 14, Owens 8, Sysavanh 6, Daniels 6, Mack 5, Dougan 4, Pr. Brown 3, Ratcliff 2, Ussery 2.
Neither was able to keep up the pace after halftime, but the Lady Bulldogs continued to pull away for a 64-26 blowout victory in day one action at the Neosho Holiday Classic.
Springdale (7-3) played all of its available players, and 10 Lady Bulldogs scored in the victory. Brown and Goodsell each finished with a game-high 14 points as Springdale utilized platoon substitutions for most of the game while working on its new 1-3-1 zone the entire game.
"It was nice to see us work the alternate zone in a little bit and just seeing the improvement from the last four practices," Springdale coach Heather Hunsucker said. "Cutting better, spacing better, rebounding better."
The Lady Bulldogs will play in the tournament semifinals at 3:30 p.m. today.
Springdale scored the game's first 11 points and led 19-3 after one quarter Monday. The Lady Bulldogs continued to stretch the lead in the second quarter, turning Forrest City over and scoring in transition or beating the Lady Mustangs' press for easy baskets.
"I thought against Alma we relied on (Ja'Vonda Daniels) and Chas (Owens) way too much against the press," Hunsucker said. "If they didn't break it, we didn't break it. So we really worked hard on involving the post players and cutting and spacing like we were supposed to. Tonight I only had to yell twice for posts to cut."
Springdale shot 62 percent in the first half en route to the 34-point lead. The Lady Bulldogs also forced 18 of Forrest City's 26 turnovers in the first two quarters.
"My point guard's the only experienced player I've got," Forrest City coach Bobby Harris said. "Everyone else are rookies. We graduated nine last year. First time they'd made it to state in 10, 15 years."
Owens scored eight points and played a good all-around game, feeding Springdale's posts or hitting open cutters while also coming up with several steals on defense. She and fellow juniors Ryann Goodsell and Desiree Mack, typically starters, came off the bench.
Springdale started Daniels, Brown, Stephanie Long, Tylee Sysavanh and reserve Rebekah Ussery, who finished with two points.
"Rebekah Ussery is one of the best kids you'll ever meet," Hunsucker said. "To reward her today with a start is a lot of fun for a coach."
Ja'Brisha Hawkins scored a team-high nine points for Forrest City.
Sports on 12/30/2014