Norwood beats Ozark in Pink and White

The Norwood Lady Pirates entered this year’s prestigious Pink and White Tournament as the No. 7 seed in a field featuring mostly larger schools.
Though Norwood did not leave the difficult tournament with any hardware, they did pick up a win over Class 6 Ozark before falling by just two points to Class 6 Republic in the Consolation finals of the Pink Division.
“In the first two games (Mt. Vernon and Strafford), we played well,” said Norwood head coach Wayne Jessen. “The Ozark game, we started slow, but finished well. The Republic game, we ran out of gas in the second half.”
In the win over the Ozark Lady Tigers, the Lady Pirates’ defense held Ozark to just four points in the opening quarter and held on late for a 48-39 victory.
Autumn Gunter’s early 3-pointer gave Norwood a 7-4 lead in a sluggish first quarter.
Ozark rallied with a 13-7 run before halftime in spite of three points from both Addy Gray and Gentry Davault.
Down three points at halftime, the Lady Pirates would make all six of their free throws in the third quarter that saw Gunter scored five big points in a 19-point frame.
Up two entering the fourth quarter, the Lady Pirates made all six of their free throws late.
Gunter added another five points to help Norwood seal the nine-point win.
She made three, 3-pointers and scored 14 points; Davault and Gray each scored 11 points; Quinncy Vestal had six points, all from the free throw line; Kalie Chadwell had four points; and Jayden Chambers scored two points.
In the first round, Norwood’s defense held Class 4 Mt. Vernon to nine points or less in all four quarters as the No. 7 seed picked up a 56-30 victory. Norwood jumped out to a 21-9 lead in the first quarter as Chambers had nine points and Davault scored eight points.
Gunter hit a 3-pointer and scored seven points in a slim nine-point second quarter before halftime as the Lady Pirates were up 30-16 at the half.
In a 22-point third quarter, Vestal made two 3-pointers and Davault scored five points.
Norwood would go on to win the game by 26 points. Chambers and Davault both scored 15 points; Gunter had 12 points; Chadwell had eight points; and Vestal added six points.
The Lady Pirates gave Strafford all that they could handle in the first half as they trailed by just four points at halftime.
Unfortunately, the Lady Indians would outscore the Lady Pirates, 35-25, in the second half to pull away for a 64-50 win.
Vestal scored 11 points in the second half to finish with a team-high 17; Chambers added 16 points; Chadwell had seven points; Gray scored six; Gunter added five; and Davault scored four points.
The Lady Pirates were up by 11 points at halftime on Republic and appears on their way to winning some tournament hardware. That was before they were outscored 24-11 in the second half of a 39-37 loss to the Lady Tigers. Five different players scored in a pair of 13-point quarters in the first half to give the Lady Pirates a 26-15 lead at the break before Republic’s big second half.
Chadwell scored a team-high eight points; Vestal scored seven points; Davault and Chambers both had six points; Gray finished with five points; Gunter added three points; while Jaycee Hall had two points.