Ladycats Slip Past Novinger
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The 65th Annual Milan Basketball Tournament began on Monday, January 13th and continued thru Saturday, January 18, 2025. An eight team bracket for both the girls and boys. For the girls, number 1 seed belonged to the Green City Gophers, number 2 seed was the Trenton Lady Bulldogs, 3 seed was Milan Ladycats, 4th seed was Marceline Lady Tigers, 5th seed went to Brookfield Lady Bulldogs, 6th seed was Novinger Ladycats, 7th see was North Missouri Knights and the 8th seed was Putnam County Midgets. Three seed Milan faced off against the 6th seed Novinger Ladycats on Monday, January 13, 2025. The opening tip was won by the Novinger squad and they wasted little time scoring first on a 3 pointer from Avery Carter. Avery connected on 3 straight treys to give Novinger a quick 9-0 lead. Kelsey Frederick converted 1 of 2 free throws, giving Novinger a 10-0 lead before Milan could get on the board.
Amy Pickering made 1 of 2 free throws to halt the Novinger scoring spree. Avery added a deuce before the quarter ended giving Novinger a commanding 12-1 lead.
All the old saying applied to the Milan Ladycats in this opening frame. Abysmal shooting from cripples to threes, nothing could go threw the hoop. Even free throws were only fifty percent, 1 of 2. The defense even slipped as Avery hit 3 straight treys.
The second frame began with two quick buckets by Novinger and Milan trailed by their largest margin with 3:56 before intermission 16-1. Finally, the Milan team rallied with successful, pressure defense, forcing multiple Novinger miscues and the Milan Ladycats capitalized scoring eleven straight points cutting the deficient 16-12 by halftime. Many squads wold have crashed, but not Milan.
Milan was outscored in the third quarter 11 to 10 and trailed 27-22 after 3 full quarters. The teams matched baskets with Milan getting no closer than 4 points.
The final stanza would be pressure packed for both teams. Milan’s Ladycats rose to the occasion scoring 7 unanswered fourth quarter points to finally grab their first lead 29-27 with 5:27 left in the contest. The lead was short lived as Novinger popped 2 three pointers to regain the advantage 33-29 with the clock winding down. With 2:53 left in regulation Novinger inched to a 5 point margin 37-32. After a time out, Milan ran off 11 straight points, taking the lead, and going in front by six 43-37 with 22 seconds remaining. Final Milan 45, Novinger 41.
Milan avoided the first round upset by wearing down Novinger and connecting on 12 of 15 fourth quarter free throws. It definitely wasn’t pretty, but Milan prevailed.
Marian led Milan with 18 points, 8 of 10 free throws, 8 rebounds, 1 assist, 3 steals, 6 blocked shots. Mya Pauley had double-double off the bench scoring with 13, 7 of 11 free throws, 11 rebounds, 1 assist, 2 steals. Amy added 7 points, 6 rebounds, 1 assist, 4 steals. Emerson had 3 points, 3 rebounds, 2 assists, 2 steals. Jazmin had 2 points, 7 rebounds, 1 steal. Violet had 2 points, 8 rebounds, 1 steal.
Avery Carter led Novinger with 25 points and 7 rebounds.
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