One team played sloppy ball. It made mental errors, costly fouls, got beat on the boards and couldn't hit shots.
The other team played lock-down defense. Hit shots from anywhere on the court and ran away with the game.
The thing is the two are one and the same ... just at different times.
The Maryville High School girls basketball team struggled in the first half against Clarinda before ultimately cruising past the Cardinals 47-33 Saturday at Maryville High School.
After falling behind 25-20 in the first half, Maryville (7-3) came out of the locker room a rejuvenated team. The Spoofhounds turned everything about their game around to dominate the second half 27-8.
Maryville coach Grant Hageman said his team had a little trouble getting up for another game less than 24 hours after a hard fought 65-58 home victory against Lafayette the night before.
"I think it took us a little while to wake up," Hageman said. "I think we had a little bit of a spill over from (Friday) night. We were a little tired, and maybe just not ready to go right away in the first half.
"Then we got into foul trouble and that just kind of slowed us down offensively."
Maryville recorded 13 fouls in the first half to Clarinda's four. The Cardinals scored 12 of their first-half points from the free-throw line.
The second half was a different story. The Spoofhounds picked it up on defense while cutting way back on their fouls. Maryville was called for a foul just five times in the second half.
"The girls at halftime agreed that we just weren't playing as hard as we needed to and just had to pick it up," Hageman said. "We were switching defenses a little bit. We played a little zone-press. I think that helped us."
Hageman said the high-speed zone helped the Spoofhounds pick up their energy a little bit. The Cardinals started to miss shots, and Maryville started to hit them.
The Spoofhounds started the second half on an 8-2 run capped by a 2-pointer by Mataya Wooten to take their first lead of the game just two minutes into the third quarter.
Wooten scored a couple of minutes later to give the Spoofhounds a three-point lead and they never looked back.
"Basketball is a game of momentum," Hageman said. "After that I think we just kind of rolled."
Hageman said the second-half turnaround had a lot to do with a change in the Spoofhounds' attitude.
"The girls just didn't have the same urgency in the first half as they did in the second half," Hageman said. "I really think that was the difference. We just came out and played like we knew we could."
Maryville started to play its game and took the Cardinals right out of theirs. Clarinda struggled to find the bottom of the net.
Most of the time when a Clarinda player missed, she didn't get a second chance.
"They got out of their rhythm that they had in the first half," Hageman said. "Once they were out of that rhythm, they just couldn't make shots. We did a great job of giving them one shot, then box out and get the rebound.
"We didn't give them many second chances in the second half."
Hageman said both Friday's and Saturday's victories were extremely important. They were the first home games of the season for the Spoofhounds after a long road stand.
"It's good to be back at home after an eight games on the road," Hageman said. "Hopefully this will give us some momentum going into conference play that's going to start here pretty soon."
The Maryville girls have a little time off before they play Falls City at 4:30 p.m. on Friday in Falls City, Neb.
Maryville, Mo. —
