Sweet victory!
JASON LAWRENCE/DAILY FORUM
Maryville junior guard Jacquelyn Ware comes to a stop and pump fakes as her Nebraska City defender flies by before scoring in Tuesday night’s 56-42 win over Nebraska City. Ware finished with seven points.
Maryville senior guard Ashton Reuter admitted there were more airballs than she would have liked to have put up in warmups, but what happened next surprised even her.
Reuter hit a three-pointer to kick off Monday’s 56-42 win over Nebraska City to finally get the Lady Spoofhounds off the schneid and into the win column, breaking a 37-game drought dating back Dec. 2013.
“Literally in our warmups I airballed everything,” Reuter said. “I’m like ‘this is going to be a horrible game.’ Then we go in the first half and I’m making these points, and I don’t know what’s going on.
“It means a lot to the seniors to finally get one win on our senior season. We’ve been going through all season hoping to get a win and the games we knew we should win, we lost. … Just to get one on the last time we’ll play on this court is great.”
With the game tied 7-7 with 4:18 to play in the first quarter, Maryville went on an 8-0 run and took a 16-12 lead into the second quarter.
“It’s always tough to come back,” Maryville head coach Candace Boeh said. “You’ve got to get that step ahead.”
Then Reuter, who had eight points in the first quarter, including a pair of three-pointers, kicked it up another notch and scored all 10 of Maryville’s second-quarter points — highlighted by a personal 6-0 run after Nebraska City cut the deficit to 18-16 — to help the Lady Hounds to a 26-16 halftime lead on senior night while outscoring the Pioneers 18-16 on her own.
“It was like she was magic,” Boeh said of Reuter. “But it isn’t luck, it isn’t magic. You should see how much hard work she puts in. I get tears in my eyes because that’s somebody that has really just bought into the system and trusted it. Change doesn’t come quick, you’ve got to really buy in and you’ve got to work hard and without a doubt she has earned every single part of this.”
Nebraska City made a bit of headway in the third quarter, but not enough to shake the Maryville girls’ confidence. The Lady Hounds never gave up more than five straight points without coming back with some kind of answer and still held a 41-34 lead going into the fourth after junior forward Josie Patton scored the final two points of the period.
After trading buckets to open the final period, Maryville went on a 7-0 run to all but seal its first win of the year. However, no one was quite comfortable until the final seconds were rolling off the clock after the Lady Hounds hit all of six of their free throw attempts in the final minute.
“I was never comfortable,” Boeh said. “I think that’s how we’ve got to be right now. We’ve got to celebrate, but we can’t get too comfortable. We’ve always got to strive to improve.”
Reuter finished with 22 points while Patton and junior point guard Jacquelyn Ware each added seven as Maryville won its final game on its home floor of the 2014-15 season.
The win ends a 21-game slide to start Boeh’s career, something that makes the process she’s been preaching to her team all season a little bit sweeter.
“It feels better winning like this, knowing you’ve worked so hard to get here,” she said.
Maryville (1-21) finishes up the regular season with a conference road game against Savannah at 6:30 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 19. Maryville lost to the Savages 59-43 back on Jan. 6 in Maryville, but Boeh said her girls finally have some confidence now that they’ve seen they can win.
“It’s now or never, right?” Boeh said. “It’s perfect timing when you talk about going into districts. Now, none of the seeds matter. It’s who can win and anyone can be beaten on a given night. I told the girls to go celebrate tonight, but we’ve got to keep that momentum going. We’ve got to come and work hard and get Savannah, then we’ve got to take the next step forward. It’s just the perfect time to start a run here.”
JASON LAWRENCE/DAILY FORUM
Maryville senior guard Ashton Reuter puts up a shot in the first half of the Spoofhounds’ 56-42 win over Nebraska City Tuesday night. Reuter outscored the Pioneers 18-16 in the first half on her way to 22 points on senior night.
JASON LAWRENCE/DAILY FORUM
Maryville junior guard Abby Van de Ven pulls up for a jumper in the first half of the Lady Hounds’ 56-42 win over Nebraska City Tuesday night, their first of the season.
JASON LAWRENCE/DAILY FORUM
Maryville junior forward Josie Patton, who scored seven points in the Lady Spoofhounds’ 56-42 win over Nebraska City, goes in for a hug with senior center Rachel Auffert after Maryville picked up its first win of the season Tuesday night.
