Willard Lady Tigers battle Parkview, Lebanon in hard-fought week

The Willard High School girls and boys basketball teams were both in action last week, with the Lady Tigers taking on Parkview and Lebanon, and the boys team traveling to Bolivar.
Willard’s lady squad hosted Springfield Parkview on Thursday, Jan. 9, and was able to come away with a 14-point victory, 55-41.
“Our kids played well against the Lady Vikings tonight,” said head coach J. J. Adamson. “We were able to get out to a hot start with a 23-point first quarter and held the lead for the remainder of the game.”
Megan Mahan led Willard with 13 points; Addalyn Adamson and Jada Holloman each chipped in 12 points and Ariana Patillo ended the game with 11 points.
The Lady Tigers opened the week by traveling to Lebanon on Tuesday, Jan. 7, and coming home with a 76-73 overtime loss.
Willard led 24-17 after the first quarter but the Lady Jackets outscored Willard 14-4 in the second quarter to take a 31-28 halftime lead. Willard outscored Lebanon 19-14 in the third quarter to take a 47-45 lead heading into the fourth quarter. In the fourth quarter, Lebanon outscored Willard 17-15 to
tie the game at 61-61 and force overtime. Lebanon outscored Willard 15-12 in the overtime period to win the game 76-73.
“This was a hard fought game that went to overtime and we came up a little short,” said Adamson. “Our kids battled through foul trouble all night, especially in that second quarter, but they continued to play hard. It was an awesome atmo- sphere and we had some kids step up off of the bench and provide some major minutes. I am proud of how our program represented itself this evening!”
Mahan led Willard with 28 points; Brielle Adamson
had 12 points and Addalyn Adamson ended the game with 11 points.
The Lady Tigers are now 8-4 on the season and were scheduled to travel to Nixa on Monday before ending the week playing at Neosho on Friday.
Boys
On the boys side, the Tigers traveled to Bolivar on Friday, Jan. 10, and came home with a 90-64 loss. The Liberators led Willard 46-34 at halftime.
With the loss, the Tigers are now 8-5 on the season and were scheduled to travel to Nixa on Tuesday night and to Neosho on Friday night.