The Lady Tigers of Festus have built themselves a nice little winning streak, helped by victories this week over Fox and Ste. Genevieve. The Tigers travelled to Fox on Tuesday and cut through the Warriors like a hot knife through butter with a 57-33 victory. Not to be outdone, three days later they hosted Ste. Gen and took down the Dragons 48-39, to boost their record to 14-10. The pair of wins made it four in a row for Festus.
Monday’s game was a lopsided affair from the opening whistle, with the Tigers taking a quick 15-6 lead. The Warriors rebounded a bit in the second by managing 14 points, but the Tigers were good for 15 more and extended their lead. Six points from Ciara McDonald and five from Mya Courtois helped put Festus up 30-20 at the break.
The third quarter is where things really opened up. Josie Allen drained four buckets and Courtois hit her second three of the game, while the Tigers stepped up defensively. They managed to hold the Warriors to just 13 points the entire second half, outscoring them 13-6 in the third and 14-7 in the fourth. The 57-33 victory was about as convincing as a win gets.
Head Coach Steve McFarland commented on the game with, “We came out attacking the basket right from the get go and never let up. I thought we put another complete game together. Our defense got us points and we limited Fox to very few second chance attempts. We also got scoring out of seven different players.”
Allen was the most prolific of those seven with 20 points, four rebounds and five steals. McDonald was next in line with 16 points (5/9 floor, 6/10 FT), seven rebounds and three assists. Courtois had a nice shooting night with eight points thanks to hitting two of three from downtown and Elizabeth Skaggs filled up the boxscore with four points, six rebounds, three assists and five steals.
Back at home on Thursday, the Tigers kept the line moving with a big first half against Ste. Gen. With strong defense and accurate offensive shooting they were able to build a 15-point lead. A 13-3 first quarter certainly helped and then Skaggs and McDonald took over in the second with six points each for a 12-7 second.
The Tigers kept pressing early in the third and built the lead to 19, but that pressure wained a bit as the second half dragged on. They still won the third-quarter battle 14-10, but the Dragons were gaining momentum and Festus started out the fourth with multiple empty possessions to let Ste. Gen back in to the game. They were outscored 19-9 in the fourth, but managed to hang on for the 48-39 victory thanks to that early first-half cushion.
Coach McFarland referenced the turning of the tide in the second half with, “I felt like we came out ready to play and played very well. Late in the third quarter and early in the fourth our offense got a little flat and we began to stand a little. But that was our fourth win in a row, our longest winning streak of the season. Hopefully we can keep it going.”
McDonald and Allen carried the offense with 16 and 15 points, respectively. McDonald was also good for six rebounds, five assists and six steals, while Allen was 6-of-13 from the floor and had five steals of her own.
The Tigers will look to keep the win streak going with the District Tournament fast approaching.