Naylor handles Greenville; Adams reaches 1,000

Greenville's Mattie Allen grabs the defensive rebound against Naylor on Tuesday, Jan. 4 during the first half in Greenville, Mo.

DAR/Robert Augsdorfer

GREENVILLE - An offensive explosion propelled Naylor to a 71-47 win on the road in Greenville on Tuesday. The Lady Eagles improve to 8-6 while the Lady Bears fall to 5-7 on the season as both teams played their first contest of 2022.

Naylor was led by 34-point performance by Danielle Shepard as she gave Greenville fits in the paint.

"Danielle is a very good player when she's making shots," Logan Foster said. "(Tuesday), she was able to get easy shots and that's what we want from her. She was able to shoot without people in her face and she was able to get it in the lane and make things happen."

Naylor's Danielle Shepard lays it up during the first half in Greenville, Mo on Tuesday, Jan. 4.

DAR/Robert Augsdorfer

As for Greenville, they were led by Mattie Allen with 18 points and Micah Adams was able to record 14 points despite going into foul trouble.

"It would've been nice to have Micah out there a little more than a quarter and a half," Greenville coach Chris Hahn said. "It's great that she was able to put up 14 points in that limited playing time and Mattie has done what we've expected out of her all year long offensively."

Adams also recorded her 1,000th career point during the fourth quarter.

Greenville's Micah Adams goes up against Naylor's Whitney Mitchell during the second half on Tuesday, Jan. 4 in Greenville, Mo. Adams recorded her 1,000th career point in the game.

DAR/Robert Augsdorfer

"Before the game, my Dad told me that it takes a lot of effort to reach 1,000," Adams said. "I've been playing since second grade and in my freshman year when I started high school, I didn't play a whole lot. I felt accomplished after I hit the 1,000th point."

It was a neck-and-neck at the start as both teams were knotted up at 10 in the late stages of the first, but Naylor would finish the period with a 10-2 run to go up 20-12 heading into the second quarter.

Naylor maintained their lead in the second quarter, but the Lady Bears stayed within 10 from the lead as they trailed 35-26 at halftime.

The Lady Eagles didn't let up in the third as they started the second half with an 8-0 run in the first two and a half minutes to go up 43-26 and eventually took a 54-36 lead going into the fourth.

Naylor's Hattie Day draws the triple team at Greenville, Mo. during the game on Tuesday, Jan. 4.

DAR/Robert Augsdorfer

Shortly after the fourth quarter began, Adams recorded the 1,000th point of her career as the game was paused briefly to acknowledge her accomplishment.

When play resumed, Naylor was able to run out the clock for the win.

Naylor will be back home on Thursday as they'll host Neelyville while Greenville will play against next Tuesday with Twin Rivers making the trip up from Brosely.