Mustangs cruise to district semis

Just three days before the start of the Class 5 District 7 tournament, McDonald County suffered a 14-point loss to Hillcrest at Hillcrest High School in Springfield.

On Monday, the two teams met again in the opening round of the district tourney but the Mustangs flipped the outcome by 40 points, claiming a 62-36 win.

"Seeing them Friday, I didn't want our kids not to play. I had tinkered with scheduling a different game and having them swap with us, but I thought it would be good for our kids to get acclimated to the gym and see what they (Hillcrest) have athletically," McDonald County head coach Brad Shorter said. "We played pretty vanilla on Friday."

The Mustangs ran a man defense in Friday's game, which is not their style, and stayed away from their typical matchup zone defense and didn't run their typical sets on offense.

On Monday, Shorter's team was able to cause turnovers, force difficult shots and it was wreaking havoc on the Hornets early on.

"I'm proud of our kids. I thought we did a good job tonight knowing who their players were, knowing who their shooters were, and Friday had a lot to do with that," Shorter said. "Our kids were locked in tonight."

Class 5's No. 2-ranked team by the Missouri Basketball Coaches Association, McDonald County, jumped out to a 21-2 lead after the first eight minutes of action. Hillcrest did fight to stick around in the second as it outscored the top 10 team 19-16, making it 37-21 at halftime.

"We were getting good shots. We were moving the ball well and taking advantage of opportunities. We've continually gotten better and better at that this year," Shorter said.

Dakota O'Brien led McDonald County (21-6) with 22 points. Carlie Martin scored 17 and Jamie Washam 10. Hillcrest (14-13) got 14 points from Lillie Moore.

The Mustangs face second-seeded West Plains (18-9). The Zizzers defeated No. 7 Central (Springfield) 70-18 on Monday. The semifinal matchup is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. Wednesday.

"West Plains is really good, and this is by far the best district in Class 5 in the state with a number of great teams. We will come out and take care of the basketball, guard, and hopefully, it will be a good night for us," Shorter said.

McDonald County's coaching staff was dressed in suits and ties for the game, and the women were wearing heels and professional attire as well. Shorter spoke to the importance of dressing nice.

"It's something I've always done. It used to be every night, and then it turned into big games and conference games. Even when we aren't dressed nice, we try to dress the same," he said. "I think it's good to show the kids it's an important night and it's special."