Haviland’s girls continued their hot post-Christmas pace last week by easily defeating Ingalls 47-29 at Mullinville last Tuesday, before dispatching Minneola at Friday’s homecoming by a count of 49-28.
  The Lady Dragons outscored Ingalls each of the four quarters, taking a 25-15 lead against Ingalls to the locker room at the half.
   Coach Mark Clodfelter credited the win to his team being able to execute its half-court offense consistently and efficiently.  Hitting 15 of 18 free throws was also a significant factor.
   “We matched up well with Ingalls, and were a little taller than they,” Clodfelter said.  “We were able to use that to our advantage by working the ball inside.  Of course, we were able to do that largely because we shot well enough from the perimeter to open up the middle.”
   Clodfelter’s team rushed to a 10-2 first quarter lead against Minneola last Friday, again outscoring their opponent in each of the four quarters.  Haviland’s press consistently forced the ‘Cats into turnovers.  Leading Haviland’s scoring were Amanda Watson and Bailey Rush, who finished with 15 and 13 points respectively.
   Asked how he’d characterize the key to his team’s 2008 success, Clodfelter said, “Our focus is more clear.  We’re coming into our realization of the role of each individual player.  Our girls like to win and they aren’t selfish about what we have to do to try to achieve that.”
   As for any areas in which he’d like to see continued progress, Clodfelter cited defensive intensity and cutting down on turnovers.
   “I’d like to see us be a bit more aggressive on defense,” he said.  “We’ve had some games of only eight turnovers.  We need to be more consistent and do that more often.”
   With only six varsity players, depth was often a factor earlier in the season, particularly when foul trouble came into play.  Clodfelter, however, has seen numbers become less of an issue as the season’s progressed.
   “Most of the time it (depth) isn’t an issue with us now,” he said.  “These girls have a great understanding what is necessary to still be competitive in the fourth quarter.”
Gals keep rolling…
   As if to prove their coach’s assertion, Clodfelter’s squad kept up its winning ways by squeezing out a narrow 29-28 win at Meade Monday night, in a makeup of a December game postponed by ice.  The win moves the girls to 9-6 on the season, their only post-Christmas losses being a nail-biter at Bucklin and to fifth-ranked South Gray in the league tourney.  Finishing December at 1-4, the Lady Dragons are 8-2 in 2008.
   The game at Meade was close throughout, the Lady Dragons leading 11-10 at the break and trailing 25-24 heading into the fourth quarter.  Kim Ralstin and Hannah Williams both scored in double figures, Ralstin tallying 11 and Williams 10.
Boys still struggling…
   Haviland’s boys, meanwhile, struggled through another tough stretch of the season, losing 83-56 at Meade Monday night despite Tanner Stevens pouring in 31.  Though Stevens accounted for over a third of his points via four triples, Meade was more than able to counter his hot hand with six makes of its own from beyond the arc.
   Though the Dragons actually outscored the Buffaloes in the second half, the game had been decided by the break with the hosts taking a whopping 52-19 lead with them into the locker room at halftime.
  Tanner McFarland and Lane Kendall joined Stevens in double digit scoring, the pair tallying 11 and 10 points respectively.  With losses to Ingalls and Minneola last week, the boys stood at 1-14 heading into Tuesday night’s scheduled match with top-ranked South Gray at Montezuma.