History repeated itself yet again on Friday night as the Labette County Grizzlies girls defeated the Parsons Vikings, 42-36, in SEK League play.
“Tonight was an opportunity for us to go back to what we’ve done in the past — wreak havoc and make our opponents question their decisions,” Labette County head coach Brianna Volmer said. “That’s the Labette County we’re used to seeing. It was a solid gameplan that caused Parsons to question themselves. We played more solid basketball.”
Parsons struggled with ball security as the Grizzlies registered 14 steals as a team.
Labette County’s 14 total turnovers were a season low for the Grizzlies in their second win of the year.
“Taking care of the basketball has been a thorn in our side,” Volmer said. “We did that much, much better tonight. 15 or under is our goal and we had 14. So we’ll take it.”
Kaylin McCoy delivered a season- high 13 points for Labette County in her first game returning to the starting lineup after coming off the bench the previous two outings. Her dominance in the post gave the Grizzlies second chances and limited the Vikings’ opportunities in the paint.
“We’ve challenged Kaylin to play tougher and stronger with the basketball in her hands,” Volmer said. “She finally played how she’s capable of and she showed confidence. She’s constantly working on her game. She wanted to be more aggressive. Tonight, she was a basketball player. She did everything we know she’s capable of doing. She’s going to continue to grow and learn.”
Amelia Carnahan, a senior point guard, who had eight points on the night, scored seven in the fourth quarter as the Grizzlies surged late.
“She showed her senior leadership,” Volmer said. “I lit into the girls a little bit. We kept letting Parsons hang around and hang around. I finally asked them if they wanted to win the game, and they started doing what they needed to do. Amelia had every opportunity to be down on her dauber a little bit. But she stayed true to who she is and she was a huge critical part of getting that win.”
Labette County improved to 2-4 overall and 1-1 in SEK League play while Parsons fell to 1-5 and 0-2, respectively.
Up next
Parsons hosts Pittsburg on Jan. 6 while Labette County hosts Chanute.
“Chanute is well-coached and they have the fundamentals and basics,” Volmer said. “We have to make Labette County a tough place to play. Every game will be a dogfight from here on out. We won’t underestimate anybody and we know we have to play hard. It’ll come down to who can get in shape after break and take care of the basketball.”
