DELTA, Mo. -- The Puxico girls basketball team knocked down a pair of 3-pointers to start the game and never trailed, as fifth-seeded Woodland struggled offensively and fell to the fourth-seeded Indians 48-38 in a quarterfinal of the Delta New Year's Invitational Tournament on Tuesday night at Delta High School.
Puxico (8-3) didn't have a great night offensively either, shooting 14 of 45 (31.1 percent) from the field, but it did shoot well from 3-point range, going 9 of 21 (42.9 percent) to build a lead the Cardinals could not break down.
The Indians advance to face top-seeded Saxony Lutheran in a semifinal at 7 tonight.
Woodland (4-4) improved on its performance from the Lady Devils Invitational earlier this season, when it lost to Puxico 50-23, but had few answers on the offensive end despite generating 19 Indians turnovers.
The Cardinals shot 13 of 54 (24.1 percent) from the floor, including 4 of 26 (15.4 percent) from 3-point range. They were 8 of 17 from the free-throw line compared to 11 of 17 for Puxico.
"[Shot selection] was not what we would have liked to have seen," Woodland coach Robert Stein said. "For me, the more frustrating part was some that would normally be good shots, but they're flaring out at you hard. And you've got someone a foot from the basket with nobody within 10 feet of them. You'd rather see that pass made."
Kayt Haynes and Kaly Haynes hit 3s for Puxico in the first minute and a half of the game as the fourth seed pushed out to an 11-point lead, 16-7, when Sophia Hancock scored in the final seconds of the opening quarter.
Woodland couldn't find the scoring touch to close the gap after that.
"We played them in the Chaffee tournament, and they put it on us pretty hard. So we were pretty pleased with the turnaround and the improvement our kids showed," Stein said. "[Puxico] is a good team -- senior laden -- and they hit big shot after big shot after big shot. There were two or three times we had a chance to cut it real close, and we just missed layups. It's frustrating. There's other kids on the floor I feel like are open, and it seemed like we're overly focused on certain spots on the floor instead of making sure all five kids get the best touches they can."
Rebekah Page led Woodland with 13 points and five steals, and Krista Rhodes put together a double-double with 10 points and 10 rebounds. Maddison Altenthal added nine points and 10 rebounds.
Kayt Haynes led all scorers with 18 points for Puxico, while Faith Oliver contributed 12 points, seven rebounds and four assists. Hancock had nine points, 15 rebounds and four steals.
"[Hancock], if she catches the ball it's brutal to stop her. ... She's going to score or get fouled," Stein said. "And [Kayt Haynes] or [Oliver], if you give them any daylight at all, they're more often than not going to knock down that 3.
"I felt like defensively we did a good job, but still, for some reason, we let [Haynes] and [Oliver] get open. Lack of mental discipline, maybe? You've got to know where those two are, and if they're going to shoot it, they need to shoot it over a hand. But overall I felt like our defensive effort was there tonight, it's just that as a team -- as a five-person team -- I didn't feel like our offensive cohesion was there."
A Carley Siler layup pushed the Indians' advantage to 23-7 midway through the second quarter before a Woodland swing saw the Cardinals cut the gap back down to single digits, as Altenthal converted a pair of free throws with 1:35 left in the half to make the score 23-14.
Oliver splashed in a 3 with three seconds left on the clock and Puxico took a 29-16 edge into the half.
Woodland showed some life coming out of the locker room, as Page sparked and capped an 8-3 Cardinals run, knocking down a 3 at the 4:28 mark to cut the deficit to 32-24 and force a Puxico timeout.
That, however, was the closest Woodland got.
"We expended too much energy coming back because I don't think we were ready to play in the first half," Stein said. "We did better -- like I said, a lot better than the Chaffee tournament."