A tough season got a little bit tougher for the Hannibal Lady Pirates.
The Mexico Lady Bulldogs came to Hannibal on Thursday for a North Central Missouri Conference matchup. Mexico controlled the game and handed the Lady Pirates its sixth loss in six games this season. The Lady Bulldogs won 69-12.
As has been the case all season, Hannibal struggled to come out of the game. Mexico scored the first seven points of the game before the Lady Pirates even got on the board. Hannibal then scored two quick baskets to cut Mexico’s lead to 7-4, but the Lady Bulldogs quickly took over and pulled away.
Thanks to a defense that stole more than the Grinch on Christmas Eve, Mexico was able to rack up quick and easy points. The Lady Bulldogs surrounded the Lady Pirates. The tight defense clogged passing lanes and made passing a dangerous game.
“Fundamentally speaking, we are not going to the ball with the pass,” Hannibal head coach Becky Monachino said. “We’re kind of out of position on some passes. We hurry passes and really the only way you can fix that is through time and experience.”
The Mexico defense forced turnover after turnover that led to fast breaks and easy layups. While the score may have gotten out of hand, it really wasn’t the fault of the Lady Pirate defense. When Mexico didn’t run and actually set up a half court offense, the Lady Pirates played tight defense and controlled the glass.
“There are really bright moments in this game, which is hard to see right now,” Monachino said. “Half-court defense looked really well. I think in the first half, all but six points came off of turnovers and layups.”
Despite the relative success of the Hannibal defense, the turnover proved far too costly for the Lady Pirates. Mexico finished the first eight minutes of the game up 19-7.
While Mexico may have just controlled the first quarter, the Lady Bulldogs dominated the second. The Mexico defense was at its thieving best and limited Hannibal to five-second quarter points. The tight defense produced offense to the tune of 29 points to enter the locker rooms at the half up 48-12.
Another factor in the Mexico lead was the free throw line. With the officials calling a tight game, both teams picked up fouls early and often. Hannibal had seven fouls with 1:13 remaining in the first quarter and Mexcio joined them with its seventh foul 40 seconds later.
