Harrisburg Girls overwhelm Osceola

OSCEOLA - The Lady Seminoles’ losing streak extended to five games when they fell 60-33 at home against Harrisburg on Monday. Arionna Dolton led the Lady Seminoles with 16 points supplemented by Teriyah Lee’s 10-point outing, but 19 points from Cassie Carlson and 17 by Gabriella Nunez propelled the Lady Hornets to the skewed scoreline.

After coming up scoreless on the first couple of possessions, Osceola found their first basket when Dolton rebounded a miss and went back up to score while drawing a foul in the process. Her free throw was good. Neveah Jones pulled up from 15 feet and scored, giving a 5-0 advantage to Osceola. Elisabeth Green retaliated by pulling up from beyond the arc to give the

Lady Hornets their first points. Head Coach Kenneth Thomas looked frustrated as he called timeout after his 5-0 lead evaporated with the score tied 5-5. His team couldn’t pick the pace and failed to score again in the quarter. Carlson scored inside and Nunez popped a three-point shot and Harrisburg led 10-5 after one period.

Lee drained a deep ball to start the second quarter to put some momentum in the hands of Osceola. But before they could turn the confidence into a comeback, Ragan Fahr drove into the lane, jumped into a stop and drained a mid-range shot. Then, she grabbed a steal in the backcourt and flipped in a layup while drawing a foul. She missed the free throw, but not before giving Harrisburg a 14-8 lead. Osceola gained another head of steam and tied it up 14-14 after Lee hit another three and Dolton scored a runner. This wave of momentum was swiftly met with response, as Harrisburg scored a pair of quick baskets inside and then Nunez buried a three in the corner. The Hornets were able to get the ball inside and created second chance opportunities. Nunez devastated the Lady Noles with her third make from deep right before the buzzer sounded for halftime. Her shot brought the Lady Hornets lead to 28-18. She and Carlson were leading the way with 10 points apiece.

Harrisburg came out aggressive in the third quarter, looking to build off the rhythm they worked into before the break. They opened with a 9-3 scoring run to pull into a 37-21 lead. Osceola’s offense struggled but picked up points from Dolton’s outside shot. She added another bucket inside, but as a team, the Lady Noles scored just nine points in the third quarter. Nunez made matters worse by making her fourth triple twine and Carlson tallied seven points in the period. By the start of the fourth quarter, the Lady Noles were facing a 47-27 deficit.

Dolton found the basket twice more, and Jones scored inside, but those would be Osceola’s only points in the final quarter. Nunez added a pair of buckets, and Carlson scored once. The Hornets finished strong with 13 points in the final quarter and got the win.

Harrisburg Head Coach Tyler Riddle thought the second quarter run was instrumental in the win. “That’s what any run is about. It’s about getting the offense going through making defensive stops. We took care of the ball and it gave us some spark. We just didn’t look back from there.”

Osceola Head Coach Kenneth Thomas wasn’t sure why the game got away from his team. “It’s kind of hard to explain. We got into a funk and stopped taking care of the ball and doing the right things. I tried calling a timeout to stop that momentum and slow things down, but it didn’t work.”

Osceola met Hoxie Thursday. The Lady Mustangs are searching for their first conference win and second win in a difficult 2-18 season so far. For Harrisburg, after moving into third place in the conference behind Manila and Rivercrest, they hosted the Lady Colts Thursday.