WWW arkcity.net

By DAVID WOLMAN
Traveler Sports Editor

MULVANE -- What Arkansas City had done so well on the defensive end in the first half fell apart in the second.

And two sequences in the final half-minute illustrated that difference.

Following a Sarah Schneider steal, Maddie Wise missed the front end of a one-and-one, but Taylor Parsons and Melinda McKee outworked the Bulldogs underneath the basket for consecutive offensive rebounds off Wise' miss.

After McKee missed a free throw with 29.3 seconds remaining, Parsons was there to snag another offensive rebound for Mulvane. She made good on her opportunity at the foul line, sinking both free throws as Mulvane scored the final seven points of the game and 36 in the second half to pull out a 49-42 win over the Bulldogs in Tuesday night's opener of the Wildcat Classic.

Ark City fell to 2-8 overall and moved into the consolation bracket, where it will face Wellington Thursday at 6:15 p.m.

"We just couldn't sustain our defensive effort," Ark City coach Bill Stinson said. "We just didn't defend well. We didn't pick up the ball up, didn't block out well. It was just a lot of little things. It's disappointing because it's stuff we work on and we know better."

Stinson was clearly in a better mood in the first half, as his team executed his game plan extremely well.

Ark City used a stingy zone defense to limit Mulvane (3-7) to just 13 first-half points. Ark City pressured Mulvane's shooters and outworked the Wildcats for loose balls and rebounds.

The Bulldogs held Mulvane scoreless for a span of 4 minutes, 27 seconds in the first half and without a field goal in the second quarter until Melinda McKee scored her first of back-to-back baskets with 51 seconds remaining.

Ark City's defensive efforts allowed them to use a 13-1 run to build a 21-9 lead with just over a minute left in the half on a pair of Natalie Stinson free throws.

Natalie Benton started the run, backing a Mulvane defender down low for a short basket late in the first quarter. The six-foot senior made a living down low in the first half. She scored eight of her 12 points in the first half, matching a season-high. She also pulled down seven rebounds.

"We need her to do that every night, but she left a lot out there," Stinson said.

Benton and Natalie Stinson almost single-handidly carried the Bulldogs in the first half, scoring 19 of the team's 21 points.

Stinson scored 11 of her team-high 16 points in the first half, in addition to eight rebounds. Karlye Sturd added 10 points and five rebounds.

After sloppy play by both teams slowed down the game early in the third quarter, Mulvane chipped away at Ark City's lead before its offense came to life in a big way late in the quarter.

McKee cut Ark City's lead to 24-21 on a three-pointer from the right corner. She finished with 14 points and seven rebounds.

And Parsons kept going.

Parsons made a layup on the second of back-to-back baskets for her, giving Mulvane a 29-28 lead with two minutes remaining in the third. She torched the Bulldogs over the final 11 minutes, scoring 10 of her 15 points. She also pulled down a game-high nine rebounds.

"We weren't guarding her," Bill Stinson said. "We were just letting her run around us."

And Parsons received plenty of support from her teammates down the stretch as Mulvane outscored Ark City 36-21 in the second half.

"We couldn't stay in a stance," Bill Stinson said.

Ark City matched Mulvane's basket-for-basket most of the fourth quarter. Val White tied the game at 38 on a pair of free throws. After a Courtney Becker layup, Benton answered with a putback to tie the game at 42 with 1:38 remaining.

But Ark City's inability to pull down defensive rebounds and convert on the offensive end late allowed Mulvane to pull away.

"We got physically mismatched a little bit because we're so tiny in certain spots, and they were just abusing us there," Bill Stinson said.

Ark City 13 8 11 10 -- 42
Mulvane 8 5 21 15 -- 49

Ark City -- Stinson 16, Benton 12, Sturd 12, White 2, Jordan 2.
Mulvane -- Parsons 15, McKee 14, Wilson 8, Becker 6, Ybarra 6.