Neelyville girls basketball wins 11th straight OFC Tournament championship

The reign continues.

For the second time in a month, Neelyville girls basketball jumped all over Doniphan in the first quarter. This time, though, it was for the Ozark Foothills Conference Tournament championship.

The Tigers opened up a double-digit lead in the first quarter before pulling away in the third with a 63-43 win over Doniphan, sealing their 11th consecutive OFC Tournament championship.

“Every year, it’s special,” Neelyville head coach Becky Hale said. “Every year, we have to overcome some kind of adversity and just get the job done.”

Greenville. Twin Rivers. Clearwater. Naylor. And now Doniphan. Throughout its 11-year run, those are all the teams the Tigers have defeated. This year is the eighth time Neelyville has earned a double-digit win throughout that span. The Donettes made their first appearance in the final since 2008, which was the last time Neelyville didn’t make it to the final.

“The seniors knew we’d never lost a conference game, so we were just trying to keep it going and pass it on to the little ones under us,” Jentri Worley said.

Neelyville’s stifling defense kept Doniphan from getting into the post as efficiently as it usually does. Offensively, crisp passing and a couple of offensive rebounds helped the Tigers build a 14-3 lead at the end of the first quarter. Neelyville was originally leading 14-1 until a layup from Bailey Carson broke an offensive drought by the Donettes.

“We were just trying to stay in front of the dribble and work and try to get better at what we’re doing and trying to do: blocking out, rebounding, trying to get steals or make them turn the ball over so we can go score,” Hale said.

The Tigers’ run started when Rhegan Tutor pulled down an offensive rebound and stuck it back to open the game’s scoring. The Tigers scored on another putback, and Makenzi Davis caught a pass from Worley and scored. A few possessions later, the two connected again for a similar play inside before Lexi Liau gave the Tigers their first double-figure lead with a free throw with under a minute to go in the first.

Worley led all with 29 points on a 16 of 17 clip from the free-throw line. Emily Ederer led Doniphan with 16 points.

“We noticed they were calling fouls, so we just kept attacking and kept attacking and kept attacking,” Worley said. “That’s what we like to do. We like to get to the free-throw line.”

At the start, Friday’s rematch resembled the Jan. 17 matchup at Doniphan, where Neelyville took a 20-point lead in the first quarter and went on to win by 25 points. The Donettes’ offense looked much improved in the second quarter, though, outscoring the Tigers 14-13 in the frame.

“I think at first, they got a little bit of a jump, but it wasn’t as bad as the first time,” Doniphan coach Adam Epps said. “... We weren’t very aggressive from the outside on the offensive end. … But I was proud of our effort. We didn’t quit. We didn’t have anybody barking at each other. It’s a great group.”

In the third quarter, the Tigers began to assert themselves on defense and kept drawing contact to get trips to the foul line.

During an 18-2 run that spanned the majority of the third quarter, the Tigers scored 12 points at the charity stripe. The defense kept swarming throughout the run, too, forcing several turnovers that allowed Neelyville to get out in transition and catch the Donettes’ defense off-balance, leading to some of the fouling issues.

Davis scored on a putback at the rim to give Neelyville its first 20-point lead in the third quarter with approximately two minutes to go, and Neelyville rode that momentum to the finish line.

“The whole conference wants to thank Three Rivers for letting us have this gym this whole week and being able to play games in here. It’s special for the kids,” Hale said.

Doniphan 3 14 7 19 — 43

Neelyville 14 13 20 17 — 63

DONIPHAN (17-7) — Dutton 1(0) 1-3 3. Jones 1(1) 0-0 3. Day 3(3) 0-0 9. Eddington 2(0) 0-0 4. Ederer 6(0) 4-6 16. Totals: 16(4) 5-15 43.

NEELYVILLE (14-7) — Reinbott 1(1) 5-6 8. Worley 6(1) 16-17 29. McGruder 1(0) 1-2 3. Tutor 4(0) 2-2 10. Liau 2(0) 2-2 6. Davis 4(0) 0-1 8. Totals: 17(2) 26-30 63.