Rector and Marmaduke collide during exciting rivalry game

It was yet another intense meeting between rivals as the Rector Lady Cougars played host Monday night to the Lady Greyhounds of Marmaduke. The two teams continued the tradition of memorable contests between the two schools, as Marmaduke came away with a hard-fought 60-51 victory.

Tied at 42-42 going into the fourth quarter, the two teams battled over the first five minutes of the frame. Marmaduke held a slim 48-47 lead with under three minutes to play, but saw their advantage grow as Rachel Morton sank two free throws with 2:42 left in the game.

A quick three by Rector refused to go down on the other end, giving the ball back to the Lady Hounds. Morton handled the ball for the red and white team, looking for an opening before picking her way through the Rector defense for a lay-up to put Marmaduke ahead 52-47 with 2:02 to play.

From there, things were pretty much decided at the free throw line. Marmaduke went 8 for 11 during the final 1:30 while the Lady Cougars made just two of five attempts. Chelsea Drope made seven of eight from the charity stripe for the Lady Greyhounds in the crucial stretch. She finished 13 of 16 at the line on the evening.

"We knew they were going to be ready to play when they got here tonight," Lady Cougar coach Matt Rabjohn said. "That's how Marmaduke is. They'll give you everything they've got. We found ourselves in a position where we had to foul them late in the game and they took advantage of it from the free throw line."

Rector led 12-8 after the first quarter and led by as many as eight in the first half. The Lady Cougars were in front 32-25 at intermission.

The Lady Hounds outscored Rector 17-10 in the pivotal third quarter.

"We had the lead, but let them back into it," Rabjohn said. "I felt like, once that happened, we got down ourselves and made some mistakes which let them take the lead. You can't give a team like Marmaduke any extra chances. They'll take advantage of everything you give them. "

Senior Hillary Calhoun had a strong performance for the Lady Cougars, finishing with 23 points and an amazing 22 rebounds on the night.

"Hillary's a competitor," Rabjohn said. "She wants to win and she's going to go out there and do everything she can to make it happen. It seemed like she was everywhere on the court tonight."

Crissy Crawford also scored in double figures for Rector, picking up 12 on the night. Other Lady Cougar scorers were Stephanie DeMent 6, Rebecca Dodd 6 and Rhoda Classen 4.

Drope and Morton led Marmaduke with 22 and 18 points, respectively. Other Lady Greyhound scorers were Meagan Nolen 9, Tristan Clayton 7 and Morgan Hatcher 4.

Junior Girls

The Junior Lady Cougars came away with a 30-23 win in their meeting with Marmaduke.

The two teams were knotted up at 19-19 to start the fourth, but Rector's Heather Scott took over in the final frame, leading her team to the win. Scott scored nine of the Junior Lady Cougars' 11 fourth quarter points, including seven free throws.

"That's what we need," Rabjohn said. "We need somebody to step up when the game's on the line and take over. Heather did a great job doing that for tonight."

Marmaduke held slight advantages through the first half, leading 8-6 after the first quarter and 13-12 at halftime.

"Give Marmaduke a lot of credit," Rabjohn said. "They got after us and really played hard. You always know you're in for a fight when you're playing them."

Heather Scott led Rector with 13 points. Also scoring for the Junior Lady Cougars were Allison Duncan 8, Amanda Bradford 5, Kelsey Wynn 2 and Jesse Scott 2.

Rachael Vangilder led Marmaduke with seven points. Also scoring for the Junior Lady Hounds were Caitlin Robinson 6, Whitney Boggs 5, Alexis Jones 3 and Callie Price 2.

The Lady Cougars will be in action at Lake City beginning at 5 p.m. Thursday as they visit Riverside.