BY KYLE TROUTMAN ktroutman@cassville-democrat.com
It has been four years since the Cassville girls basketball team lifted the Southwest Girls Holiday Tournament trophy, and for the fourth time in the competition’s 11-year history, the Lady Wildcats are title-holders again.
Cassville won all three of its contests at Southwest, starting with a 54-14 blowout of Billings, then squeaking out a 45-43 win over perennial foe Gentry (Ark.) in the semifinals before utilizing a massive early lead to protect a 64-52 victory over Commerce (Okla.) in the championship.
Aubrey Stoufer, tournament MVP who scored 17 in the title bout, said although things went Cassville’s way the whole contest, emotions before the tip-off were running high.
“I think a bunch of us were nervous, but we knew from the beginning of the tournament if we could beat Gentry, we could finish it,” she said. “It feels amazing. Coach said from the start we would be a championship team, and I’ll be glad however we go out this season knowing this is how we started it.”
Clayton Bagby, Cassville girls basketball coach, said he felt the nerves in the second half, when a more than 20-point lead fell to single digits, but he’s proud of his team for pulling through.
“The first half was probably the best we’ve played so far this year,” he said. “We knew [Commerce] can play and would fill the basket in the second half, so it helped to be up so much when some of our shots weren’t going in later. Our scoring in the second half is more on par with what we’ve done this season, and we knew the defense just had to stop a couple of their players specifically. Sometimes, you can get a little timid with a big lead and play not to lose instead of playing to win.”
The Lady Wildcats developed a healthy lead early, up by 7 midway through the first and 16 at the horn, spurred significantly by Stoufer nailing three 3-pointers in a row.
“I got into a rhythm,” Stoufer said. “I had the hot hand at that moment, and the best thing was, they left me open.”
By halftime, Cassville had more than doubled Commerce’s total, leading 38-16.
In the third quarter, Commerce put together a scoring run to cut the deficit back under 20. In the fourth, the Lady Wildcats saw their advantage fall to as few as 9 points, but the smothering defense they had played all game won out.
“We’d like to have that fourth quarter back and score a little better, but as far as improving each game, we are still on the up,” Bagby said.
“We knew exactly what we were lacking,” Stoufer said about the final 8 minutes. “Our energy was dead on the bench and on the floor, so we had to get back on our toes and get loud.”
Stoufer led scorers with her 17 points, including four baskets from beyond the arc and 3-of-4 from the charity stripe. Her progression, Bagby said, has been exciting to watch.
“Aubrey has been the motor of this team for us coaches,” he said. “She started figuring things out at the end of last year, and coming into this season, she worked hard with Coach [Scott] Wenger and is realizing the force she can be with her height at the guard spot.”
Avery Stokes netted 12 points and hit both her free throws in the game; Audrey Kennedy scored 9 points, including two 3-pointers; Alex Holycross, Hailey Gautney and Brylee Gross each contributed 7 points, with Gross a perfect 3-for-3 from the line; and Kyler Hayward rounded out scoring with 5 points, including one 3-pointer.
The championship was nearly not even in play, as Cassville’s 2-point win over Gentry came in just the final minutes of play. Cassville trailed by about 4 points for most of the contest, finally knotting the score at 43-43 on a Hayward layup with 2:22 to play. Stoufer provided the go-ahead points with a pair of free throws, and Cassville locked Gentry down defensively to earn the win.
“That semifinal was close,” Bagby said. “Coach Wenger said afterward he credited the win to the mentality of the girls. They have no quit in them. Down early and staying close, we kept fighting, and our depth really paid off in the end.”
Gentry defeated Cassville in 2021 and 2022 championship games, and the Lady Wildcats fell to Commerce in semis last year, ultimately taking third place.
The Lady Wildcats entered the new year at 9-2, and they played Aurora at home on Monday. Cassville hosts McDonald County on Thursday.
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