By William / www.mcpherson-county-ks.com

MOUNDRIDGE – Except for the first quarter the Moundridge Lady Wildcats struggled getting points in the scorebook and paid a heavy price for it by losing their first game of the young season to Hillsboro by 24 points on Thursday in their second game of the Moundridge Preseason Tournament

The Lady Wildcats took an early five point, 10-5 lead at the end of the first quarter before the lid went on the basket for Moundridge as Hillsboro outscored them 15-3 in the second quarter to take a 20-13 lead into the halftime intermission.

Moundridge continued to struggle in the second half trying to get balls to go in the basket as they scored just five points in the third quarter and only seven in the fourth while the Lady Trojans put another 29 points on the scoreboard to give them the final 49-25 victory.

“We started the game well before hitting a wall where we struggled to score,” said Lady Wildcat head coach Kaleigh Huxman. “Three points in a quarter is not going to win any games. I thought we played good defense and crashed the boards well. I am thankful for the chance to turn around and play again tomorrow. It will be good to start fresh after this one.”

Junior Emily Durst led the Lady Wildcats in scoring with 11 points of which nine came on the only three three-pointers the team made on the night. Reese Schmidt was the only other Moundridge player to get more than five points as she scored six.

WHAT’S NEXT FOR LADY WILDCATS?

The Lady Wildcats are now 2-1 for the season and will battle with cross-county Inman on Friday in their final game of the Moundridge Preseason Tournament.

Hillsboro vs. MOUNDRIDGE LADY WILDCATS at the Moundridge Preseason Tournament

SCORING:                    1          2          3          4          FINAL

Hillsboro                     5          15        14        15        49       

LADY WILDCATS          10        3          5          7          25       

TEAM STATS:              Hillsboro         LADY WILDCATS

Shooting                     N/A                 N/A

3-Pointers                   N/A                 N/A

Free Throws                6/15 (40%)      4/6 (73%)

Rebounds (Off/Def)    N/A                 N/A

Assists                         N/A                 N/A

Turnovers                   N/A                 N/A

Steals                          N/A                 N/A

Blocked Shots             N/A                 N/A

Personal Fouls            13                    14

MOUNDRIDGE LADY WILDCATS INDIVIDUAL SCORING & STAT LEADERS:

Scoring (25 Total Points): Emily Durst – 11; Reese Schmidt – 6; Kate Eichelberger – 3; Kindall Elmore – 2; Emma Blough – 2; Hannah Schrag – 1.

Three-Pointers Made (3): Emily Durst – 3.

Rebound Leaders: No Stats Available.

Assist Leader: No Stats Available.

Leader in Steals: No Stats Available.

Leader in Blocked Shots: No Stats Available.