Craighead, Lady Wildcats have come long way together

New Bloomfield senior guard Baylee Garrett tries to make a pass during the Lady Wildcats' 62-59 victory over Eugene in the District 8 title game Friday night, Feb. 24, 2017 in Sturgeon. Garrett and the Lady Wildcats (22-6) face Westran (21-7) in a Class 2 sectional game at 7:45 tonight at Mexico High School.
New Bloomfield senior guard Baylee Garrett tries to make a pass during the Lady Wildcats' 62-59 victory over Eugene in the District 8 title game Friday night, Feb. 24, 2017 in Sturgeon. Garrett and the Lady Wildcats (22-6) face Westran (21-7) in a Class 2 sectional game at 7:45 tonight at Mexico High School.

NEW BLOOMFIELD, Mo. - Formative, familiarity, family.

New Bloomfield head coach Brett Craighead has been an influential part of the basketball education of his Lady Wildcats going all the way back to the second grade, a partnership that has procured success at every stop - first elementary, then junior high and now high school.

Craighead and New Bloomfield will continue that journey in the electric environment of the state playoffs tonight when the Lady Wildcats (22-6) clash with the Westran Lady Hornets (21-7) in a Class 2 sectional showdown at Mexico High School. Tipoff is scheduled for 7:45 p.m.

New Bloomfield - which has won eight in a row - is back in the state playoffs for the first time since 2014. The Lady Wildcats punctuated their fourth straight appearance in a district championship by outlasting Eugene in a 62-59 thriller for the District 8 title last Friday night in Sturgeon.

"It's rewarding to see where they've come," Craighead said during practice Monday afternoon. "We started them little and we just kind of built the program. Of course, we had more, and these (players) are the ones that have kind of stuck with it."

In addition to his own daughter, junior guard Madi Craighead, Brett Craighead has added 10 other basketball daughters to his extended clan along the way.

"Sometimes I treat them like my own kid - I don't know if that's a good thing or a bad thing," Craighead said. "I want them all to succeed. I do, I feel like they're my kids."

Craighead noted that the lengthy association he has with this group of players is apparent when it comes to communication on the court.

"There are lots of times I can go in a timeout and they already know what we're going to do," Craighead said. "They're already saying it or I'll say, 'OK, guys, what do you think, what are you guys seeing out there?' They'll say, 'Maybe we need to do this and this.' (I'll say), 'Let's do it.'

"They're thinking the game the same way I am."

New Bloomfield will certainly have payback on its mind tonight when it squares off against Westran. The Lady Wildcats were edged by the Lady Hornets 61-60 in overtime Dec. 29 in a holiday contest at Moberly Area Community College.

New Bloomfield carried a comfortable 43-27 lead into the fourth quarter, but Westran forged a furious rally by outscoring the Lady Wildcats 24-8 over the last 8 minutes of regulation to tie the game at 51-all and force overtime. The Lady Hornets then outscored New Bloomfield 10-9 in the extra period to pull out the narrow win.

"We had them tired and then we got tired," Craighead said. "They got their second wind and we got to the point where we just couldn't hit (shots). We were hitting everything and then we couldn't hit anything.

"They got on a run and we just couldn't get it stopped. We made some mistakes and shot some shots we probably shouldn't have shot - and didn't manage the clock very well. We learned from it and we worked on some things after that, and I think we've gotten better at end-of-the-game situations."

Westran reached the state playoffs by downing Schuyler County 60-53 for the District 7 championship Saturday night in Salisbury. The Lady Hornets are guided by a pair of seniors - guard Maddy Denslow and guard-forward Cory Burton.

The 5-foot-5 Denslow leads Westran in scoring at 13.4 points per game, while also averaging 4.3 rebounds and 3.9 assists. The 5-10 Burton averages 12.6 points and 5.8 rebounds.

"She (Denslow) can shoot the 3(-pointer), she really likes to shoot the 3, but she's also good about taking the ball to the hole," Craighead said. "She reminds me of Adrian Mann a little bit, from South Callaway. She's that type of player - her and Madi are similar.

"(Burton) is a bigger girl, but she also plays guard and she will shoot 3s. She doesn't really post up a whole lot, but she'll look to drive and get in there. She usually guards post players, so she's a bigger girl. She can shoot over people."

Craighead explained that the Lady Wildcats will have to do a better job of defending behind the arc after allowing Eugene to connect on 10 3-pointers last Friday night.

"I think we're going to have to disguise our defenses a little bit," he said. "I don't know if we're in shape to play man(-to-man) the whole game, but we're going to have to do some things where we're playing lots of man.

"We're going to have to disguise our zone a little bit, maybe do some junk defenses at times, and just switch it around and see what happens."

Madi Craighead tops New Bloomfield in scoring at 18.4 points per game and tallied all 14 of her points in the second half of the Lady Wildcats' District 8 title victory. Sophomore center Samantha Haas averages 10.2 points and 8.2 rebounds, delivering 15 of her team-high 23 points in the second half against Eugene.

Senior guard Kate Baxter and senior forward Madison Love - who were freshmen in 2014 when New Bloomfield lost to New Franklin 46-39 in the Class 2 sectionals - score 9.8 and 7.4 points per game, respectively. Love also averages 6.1 rebounds.

Senior guard Baylee Garrett - who scored 10 points last Friday night - averages 7.6 points and 5.6 rebounds. Garrett tore the ACL and meniscus in her left knee during a summer league game last June, underwent surgery in August and then returned in December after an intense four-month rehab.

"They play pretty good man defense," Brett Craighead said of the Lady Hornets. "They've got some quickness and they've got some big, strong girls. We're going to have to be strong in the post.

" We've got to do some things to attack their man."