PARK HILLS, Mo. — Neelyville alumna Shelby Moon had the best game of her college career on Saturday, and it wasn't even close. Moon sank seven 3-pointers and finished with 25 points, five rebounds and four assists as she led Mineral Area College to a 73- 53 win over Three Rivers College after the Lady Raiders won by 34 in the first meeting in early January. "That's nothing but mental," Three Rivers coach Jeff Walk said of the 54-point swing between the two games. "The first half, they were waiting for us to jump up 10 points so they could quit and we never did. Then we gave them a little confidence when they got ahead and we lost all confidence." Moon, who was averaging 5.4 points going into the game, set new collegiate highs in points, field goals, minutes and 3-pointers in this her freshman season. Her previous scoring high was 14 points. "We lost her," Walk said. "We let her get started and once she gets started, she's too good of a shooter." Moon's output was coupled by a return to form for leading scorer Haley Winter, who is averaging more than 12 points and was scoreless in the first meeting. Winter had a double-double in the third quarter Saturday and finished with 17 points, 16 rebounds and eight assists. She also had eight turnovers.
Elsewhere in the region Saturday, State Fair beat Moberly Area by a point and Crowder beat Jefferson by 22. Three Rivers, with one region game left on its schedule at Crowder on Saturday, is a half game ahead of State Fair in the region standings, and is 1 1/2 games ahead of Crowder. State Fair must win its final two region games against Jefferson and Mineral Area, and have Three Rivers lose to Crowder, to overtake the No. 1 seed. Three Rivers holds the tiebreaker against both Crowder and State Fair because of its season sweep against State Fair, and is assured of at least the No. 2 seed in the region tournament.
Tied at halftime, the Lady Raiders (21-7, 7-2 Region XVI) fell behind by 12 midway through the third quarter and were still down by 10 with 10 minutes to play. Early in the second half, the Lady Raiders missed five attempts on the same possession, and had Moon finally grab the rebound, race down the floor and sink a jumper from the free-throw line. A putback by Allie Golden followed to put Mineral Area ahead by six, its biggest lead since it scored the fi rst fi ve points of the game. Moon later tacked on a 3 as the Lady Cardinals pushed their lead to 12. The Lady Raiders pressed throughout the fourth quarter, but couldn't get any closer than eight points. "It boils down to we've got to take care of making shots. When it's not going your way, you've got to focus in a little bit more and we didn't tonight," Walk said. Ge'Naisha Robinson led Three Rivers with 12 points and DeNayia Holmes added 10. Robinson was also a rebound shy of a double-double. In the fi rst meeting, Three Rivers was plus-23 on points off turnovers. This time, it was plus-10. In the fi rst meeting, Three Rivers shot 23 percent better from the fl oor and grabbed 12 more rebounds. This time, it shot 15 percent worse and had 10 fewer rebounds. Winter gives the Lady Cardinals a double-edged sword at point guard, being fi fth in the country in both assists per game and turnovers. She cut the Lady Cardinals in the fi rst meeting with eight turnovers against fi ve assists, one rebound and 0 for 8 shooting.
Mineral Area (12-14, 3-6), which committed 22 turnovers in the first meeting, cut it to 17. Moon buried a 3 to put Mineral Area ahead 5-0 in the opening minutes. Three Rivers bounced back with seven straight for the fi rst lead change, and Robinson tacked on a 3 for a 10 point, Lady Raider run. Moon was on fire in the beginning with eight of Mineral Area's fi rst 10 points, including a pair of 3-pointers. In the first meeting at Three Rivers, where Mineral area was blown out, Moon had six points and three assists. The Lady Raiders switched to a 2-3 zone late in the second quarter and immediately got a traveling call against the Lady Cardinals, only to travel themselves at the other end. With 10 seconds left in a back and forth first half and the score tied at 25, Winter drove and missed a 10-footer at the buzzer.