The Neosho Wildcats's recent rough patch got a bit rougher on Thursday after their fifth straight loss. They suffered a rough 58-34 defeat at the hands of McDonald County. While losing is never fun, Neosho can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' Missouri basketball rankings (they are ranked 317th, while McDonald County is ranked 86th).
McDonald County found their leader in underclassman Dakota O'brien, who dropped a double-double on 18 points and 11 rebounds. O'brien has been hot recently, having posted two or more steals the last six times she's played. Another player making a difference was Carlie Martin, who scored 14 points along with eight steals and six rebounds.
Neosho dropped their record down to 3-8 with that defeat, which was their fifth straight on the road. Those losses could be blamed on the team's offensive performance across that stretch, as they only averaged 29.4 points per game. As for McDonald County, the win was the seventh in a row for them, bringing their record for this year to 15-5.
Both squads are looking forward to the support of their home crowds in their upcoming games. Neosho will take on Nixa at 6:00 p.m. on Monday. McDonald County won't have much time to rest: their next matchup is against Carthage at 6:00 p.m. on January 26th. Carthage has been getting the ball to fall more lately as they've increased their point totals each of their last three games.
