Oran runs by Puxico in win

~ The Eagles defeated the Indians 70-34 to open Delta New Years Tournament

DELTA, Mo. -- Not many teams are successful when trying to run with the Oran girls basketball team.

Puxico learned that lesson the hard way Wednesday night, falling to the Eagles 70-34 in the first round of the Delta New Years Tournament.

Oran saw a 24-7 lead trimmed to 24-16 with just under two minutes gone in the second quarter. But senior guard Chrissy Sauceda fueled a 9-0 Oran run with a 3-pointer from the top of the key, and when fellow senior Addie Kielhofner completed a conventional three-point play with just over three minutes left in the first half, the Eagles led 34-18.

It was part of a 21-2 Oran run to close the half, which ended with the Eagles leading 45-18.

Oran's Taylor Nenninger goes up for a shot against Puxico's Danielle Roberts during the second quarter of their first-round game of the Delta New Year's Tournament on Wednesday, Jan. 8, 2014 in Delta. (Fred Lynch)

"That's what we want to do," said Oran coach Ethan Evans, whose team improved to 5-2. "We want to push it up the floor. I kind of like it when other teams want to do that because when it gets closer later in the game, we're going to be able to push it and wear the other team down."

Kielhofner had six steals in the first half alone, totaling 17 of her game-high 23 points over the first 16 minutes, mostly on uncontested layups.

"That was not good to get in a hole there," said Kielhofner about Puxico's run to open the second quarter. "Once we got used to it, we went back to our same game, and we figured it out anyway."

Evans said Kielhofner sets the tone for the Eagles' suffocating pressure out front.

"She's just a tenacious defender," he said. "She has a nose for the ball. She knows where it's at all the time. She gets up and gets after it. And the big key is she's staying out of foul trouble this year, and that's really been helpful for us."

Evans figured the long layoff between games -- the holiday break coupled with the recent inclement weather that extended the break well into this past week -- was partly responsible for the Eagles' early showing.

"We haven't played since Dec. 19th, and you could really tell," he said. "With school being in and out like it has been, getting everybody together in practice has been a little tough.

"That second quarter, I kind of wanted to get some of our girls farther down the bench some experience, see how they would react because we're going to need all the depth we can get to try to get past Woodland [Thursday]. But I was proud with the way our girls rallied together and came back that second quarter."

Sauceda finished with 16 points, including four 3-pointers.

"It is so hard to get back into it," Sauceda said. "With the snow, you can't practice, and it's hard to get back in there and get conditioned. To scrimmage, even, it gets hard."

Although Puxico had some success keeping pace with the Eagles, it was short-lived.

"We were just kind of out-matched," Puxico coach Jordan Lindsay said. "Coming out of the Christmas break, I've got to say, that's probably the worst I've seen us play. However, we weren't ready for them. They're quick, and we couldn't match up."

Danielle Roberts led Puxico (3-4) with 17 points.

"We try to push the ball but not to that extent," Lindsay said. "We have a lot of trouble with teams like that. They took us out of game completely. We didn't run our offense, we didn't play much defense, we just weren't ready for them."

Oran advanced to meet Woodland tonight at 8:30 p.m. Puxico faces Meadow Heights tonight at 5:30 in a consolation semifinal.

Puxico 10 8 12 4 -- 34

Oran 24 21 19 6 -- 70

PUXICO (34) -- Danielle Roberts 17, Gabby Clark 5, Katelyn Pierre 10, Nikki Richmond 2. FG: 13. FT: 6-8. Total fouls: 10. (3-pointers: Roberts 1, Clark 1. Fouled out: none)

ORAN (70) -- Addie Kielhofner 23, Ashlyn McIntosh 9, Taylor Nenninger 10, Allie Cummins 4, Tatum May 2, Chrissy Sauceda 16, Kaylen Glastetter 2, Tony Hency 2, H. Scherer 2. FG: 30. FT: 6-5. Total fouls: 10. (3-pointers: Sauceda 4. Fouled out: none)