Season to remember ends in sectional round for Chaffee girls basketball team

MOUNTAIN VIEW, Mo. -- The Chaffee girls basketball team knew it had a tough challenge ahead when it stepped onto the court for Friday's Class 2 sectional against Neelyville, but the Red Devils were never able to handle the pressure applied by the Tigers.

Chaffee committed 10 of its 24 turnovers in the first quarter, falling behind by 13 points before Neelyville cruised to a 76-41 victory at Liberty High School.

"We had a plan for it, we just didn't execute it in the beginning," Chaffee coach Darrin Pruitt said about trying to break the Tigers' press. "They did it a little bit different than we kind of expected. They did the same formation but ran it a little different. I think that threw us off. We were expecting to be ready for the pressure, but they caught us of guard and it really hurt us."

Despite their preparation, Jordan Pruitt said the Red Devils were out of place many times on the court, which led to multiple turnovers.

"We had a few mistakes where we just forgot what we were supposed to be doing and we didn't listen," Jordan Pruitt said. "That's kind of how those [turnovers] happened. We all had mistakes and usually you put them past you and move on, but we couldn't tonight."

Kylie Wilhite hit a 3 to pull Chaffee (22-6) within one 2 minutes, 49 seconds into the opening period.

However, Neelyville (21-4) responded with a 7-1 run capped by Ashley Law's 3 at the 3:43 mark and never allowed the Red Devils to get within a point for the remainder of the game.

Following a Wilhite free throw to cut the lead to 15-9, the Tigers closed out the first on a 10-3 run to extend their lead to 25-12.

"We've been working on defense, That's what we're all about," Neelyville coach Becky Hale said. "Not only that, but it was real important to start fast. I was afraid we were going to come out a little sluggish. This is like our third game in three weeks. Weather has played havoc on our schedule. Hopefully it's something we can keep going tomorrow."

Chaffee fans react to a play in the second quarter against Neelyville during a Class 2 sectional Friday, March 6, 2015 in Mountain View, Missouri. (Glenn Landberg)

Chaffee was just 3 of 14 from the field in the first and looked timid to take shots in the early going. Wilhite scored all three of the Red Devils' field goals and had nine points in the opening period.

"We knew they were going to be a really hard team to beat, but we just didn't put up enough shots really," Chaffee junior Lindsey Koch said. "We shot and we made some, but we didn't put up enough for us to actually be able to compete with them. And that's what you've got to do with them. They're quick, they're fast and they put up so many shots. One mistake, and they get points almost every time."

The mistakes continued for the Red Devils in the second.

After starting the first three minutes of the second with just two shots and four turnovers, Chaffee found itself down 34-13 after a 3 from Neelyville's Chelsea Petty.

Julia Sutterfield added two points from the charity stripe a minute later, but two more missed shots and three turnovers sparked a 12-4 run for the Tigers, who led 46-20 at halftime.

"We had double the amount we normally do. Like, all this season, we have never had that many," Koch said of the turnovers. "That's one thing that realy killed us. It was just turnover after turnover for a really long stretch it seemed like. Especially with this team, live-ball turnovers are going to be scored almost every time by them."

Neelyville scored 19 points off of Chaffee turnovers and had 12 rebounds in the first half.

Chaffee only had four turnovers in the third, but was outscored 22-10 and fell behind 70-30 at the end of the third, which started a running clock for the remainder of the game. Pruitt scored a game-high 15 points and is one of four seniors Chaffee will lose to graduation.

Chaffee coach Darrin Pruitt talks with his daughter Jordan during the second quarter against Neelyville during a Class 2 sectional Friday, March 6, 2015 in Mountain View, Missouri. (Glenn Landberg)

"It feels awesome to go through everything we did, but at the same time you want to break down and cry right now," Pruitt said. "But I can't do that because I'm so happy about the season that we've had and all of those things we did together."

Despite ending the season on a bad note, the Red Devils have a lot to look back on and build off of, according to their fourth-year coach.

"It's awesome. They've set a precedent down there," Pruitt said about Chaffee's historic season that featured the first district title since 1978. "I've got little kids in grade school coming up to me and asking about playing basketball when they get in high school and that's just awesome. The maturity level has just been awesome this year. These girls, they can look back and it's always going to be positive. We're not going to remember this game here. When we look back, we're going to remember our record, our 11-game winning streak and all that kind of stuff. All those positives are what made it the best few months of my coaching experience and their playing careers so far."

Neelyville 25 21 24 6 -- 76

Chaffee 11 9 10 11 -- 41

NEELYVILLE (76) -- Jamie Fowler 14, Riley Washburn 12, Chelsea Petty 11, Christina Russom 8, Ashley Law 7, Shelby Moon 6, Allison Law 6, J'Kayla Fowler 4, Alexis Bell 2, Jaz Smith 2, Michaela Eakens 2, Madison Stratton. FG 33, FT 7-11, F 15 (3-pointers: Law 2, Petty 1. Fouled out: none.)

CHAFFEE (41) -- Jordan Pruitt 15, Kylie Wilhite 9, Lindsey Harrell 6, Julia Sutterfield 4, Kaitlin McFerron 3, Lindsey Koch 2, Mary Beth Knutson 2. FG 12, FT 11-13, F 13 (3-pointers: Pruitt 4, Wilhite 2. Fouled out: none.)