Mexico Boys and Girls Overcome Slow Starts to Win

Mexico High School swept a quad basketball header Monday night at the MHS Sports Plex over Marshall. But it was anything but easy.

The JV boys started it off with an easy 76-29 win. Then the JV girls notched a 22-14 victory.

The Varsity girls squad took a little more work. The Lady Bulldogs actually started the game on a 6-0 run before Marshall started a 14-3 run of their own. The Lady Owls extended their lead to 9 points early in the second, before Mexico cut it to a four-point lead at the half, 24-20.

The Lady Dawgs again started the half with a strong push, featuring Messiah Simpson, as they scored the first 11 points of the third to take a 31-24 lead. After a Marshall free throw, Simpson hit her 5th, 6th and 7th points of the quarter, and only points of the game, with a runner down the lane and a foul shot. From there, the Owls came back scoring the next 10 to take a 35-34 lead on a Brooklyn Davenport layup with :59 left in the quarter. Claire Hudson then hit for a layup and then got a steal, fed Addison Heim who hit Karlee Sefrit for a layup to give the Dawgs a 38-37 lead after three.

Marshall took their last lead of the game early in the fourth on two free throws, before Mexico took control again. Hudson hit a bucket, Lexie Willer drove for a layup and then Willer drove again, was fouled and hit her two ensuing free throws. Hudson and Willer then hit two free throws apiece down the stretch to seal the 54-46 win.

Hudson led MHS (8-13) in scoring with 20, while Willer added 13. Marshall fell to 5-16 on the year and was led by Davenports’ 16 points. Alexis Neff chipped in 12.

In boys action, Mexico faced off against a Marshall squad that had won just three games on the year. The Owls were determined to make this a much closer game than the first meeting between the two squads which Mexico won back in December, 73-32. For most of two and a half quarters they played straight up with the Dawgs before Mexico took over for another lopsided win, 75-46.

Marshall led the entire first quarter and led 10-9 at the break. In the second quarter, DJ Long fed PJ Perkins down the lane with a whip pass as Perkins layed it in to close the lead to extend the Owls’ lead to five, their biggest of the night. Long and Perkins teamed up to score all 13 of MHS’ points in the second, including a Long putback which cut the lead to 22-21 at the intermission.

Mexico took it’s first lead of the night on a Donye Nunnely putback to start the third, but Marshall answered with two straight buckets to regain the lead. The teams battled back and fourth until Caviness hit another shot to give the Owls a 31-30 lead a third of the way through the 3rd quarter. It was Marshall’s last lead of the game as Mexico went on a 9-0 run which was started by freshman Kaden Benne’s trey from the left wing. Benne then fed Perkins down low for another basket before Jaydon Eldridge got a steal, threw it to Perkins who fed the cutting Long for a layup. Then Eldridge hit on a baseline drive from 6-feet and the Dawgs had some breathing room. They led 44-36 after three.

The fourth quarter, well let’s just say it belonged to the freshman Benne. He hit for five more three’s on his way to an 18 point performance, which trailed only Long’s 23 points. MHS had nine other players in the book, including Perkins and Jordan Shelton who added 8.

Caviness led Marshall with 14, while guard Deacon Arends added 10.

Mexico is back in action Friday at St. Elizabeth.