HIGGINSVILLE – Excelsior Springs weathered its share of adversity en route to taking fifth place last week in the girls bracket at the Husker Classic on the Lafayette County C-1 campus. The Tigers headed into their first round of basketball against host school Lafayette County without head coach J.D. Biermann, who was home due to illness. They dropped the Dec. 7 meeting 42-38. The Huskers led 13-8 lead after one quarter and 25-21 at halftime. The Tigers then outscored the Huskers 10-8 the third quarter to cut Lafayette County’s lead to two, but they got no closer. Junior Rylie Stottlemyre led Excelsior Springs with a double-double of 12 points and 12 rebounds to go with six steals. Senior Mayce Barber and junior Mallory Millsap chipped in eight points apiece. Millsap’s stat line also included four rebounds and four assists. Junior Lillian Mawby grabbed six rebounds. The Tigers shot 28% from the field and 57.1% from the foul line. They committed 25 turnovers but forced only 16. …