Lacey steps into scoring role as Lady Rams win

Scott City's Melanie Lacey guards Kelly's Carissa Klipfel Monday night in Scott City. Lacey led all scorers with 20 points in the Lady Rams' 49-43 win over Kelly.
(Photo by Josh Mills, Staff)

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SCOTT CITY -- With some of the more prominent scorers battling foul trouble for both teams on Monday night Scott City junior Melanie Lacey took it upon herself to step into more of a scoring role against rival Kelly High School.

"The biggest thing was to just beat them," Lacey said. "They are our rival and we just wanted to play hard."

Senior Stephanie Essner and sophomore post-player Katie Hogan were each battling early foul trouble which limited their time on the floor. Essner and Hogan were held to a combined 10 points while Lacey finished with a game-high 20 points, eight rebounds and four steals in the Lady Rams' 49-43 win.

"Melanie had a tough week last week," Scott City head coach Kerry Thompson said about Lacey's Scott-Mississippi Conference tournament performance. "I know she was kind of down but to bounce back like she did -- that was a big difference in the ball game."

Lacey single-handedly fought back a second quarter rally from the Lady Hawks after Scott City (9-3) built a 13-6 first quarter lead. She nearly matched Kelly's nine points in the first six minutes of the period with eight herself. She finished with nine of the Lady Rams' 12 second quarter points.

"I got it down low and made a few cuts and tried to get myself open," said Lacey about the second quarter.

Lacey and the Lady Rams managed to hold off Kelly (7-6) enough to sustain a six-point halftime lead, 25-19.

"When their main scorers were not scoring they had other girls step up and score," Kelly head coach Rod McQuerter said about Lacey. "That's the good thing about basketball. You got to have those girls step up and Scott City should be very proud that she was able to help her team out."

Holli Shemonia and Ashley Brant were also a lift with eight points apiece.

"We had some players that people key in on in foul trouble and it was really good as a coach to see those young ladies step in and do the job," Thompson said.

The Lady Hawks made one more run in the third quarter outscoring Scott City 17-12 and making it a tight 37-36 ball game heading into the fourth quarter. Successive baskets by Lacey, Brant and a 3-pointer from Hogan gave Scott City a 44-38 lead midway through the period and Kelly never recovered.

"We didn't do little things tonight," McQuerter said. "When you don't do the little things you can't expect the big things like a win. Our close-outs were not good, our block-outs were not good and we fouled a lot. Little things win games. Not the big things."

Kayla Hicks was Kelly's unsung hero in the unfortunate loss. Hicks finished with 11 points and pulled down eight rebounds while filling in for the foul-ridden Samantha Fisher and Kristen Powell. Londyn Backfisch led Kelly with 12 points.

"Each team has those players that can come out and do those things," said McQuerter. "Tonight, they had Lacey do it. We had Kayla Hicks come out and score a lot of points for us. Different girls stepped up and did well tonight."

Scott City will be in action again Thursday when they travel to Scott Central while Kelly will play host South Pemiscot next Tuesday.

Notes: The girls varsity contest was a part of three games on the night. In the first game, the Scott City freshman boys defeated Kelly's freshmen 56-12. In the middle game, Scott City's junior varsity girls defeated Jackson's junior varsity 31-27 in overtime.

KELLY (43) -- Londyn Backfisch 12, Bridgett Chandler 3, Carissa Klipfel 5, Neely Tetley 4, Kayla Hicks 11, Kristen Powell 8. FG 17 FT 7-12 F 21. (3-pointers: Backfisch 1, Chandler 1. Fouled out: none.)

SCOTT CITY (49) -- Stacey Heisserer 2, Stephanie Essner 6, Katie Hogan 4, Holli Shemonia 8, Macy Heisserer 1, Melanie Lacey 20, Ashley Brant 8. FG 19 FT 9-26 F 15. (3-pointers: Essner 1, Hogan 1. Fouled out: none.)