9 Conway vs 16 Fair Play
I admittedly overslept a bit, so I didn’t get a full look at this 9AM tip off. By the time I arrived at Walnut Grove, Conway was already up big. The Lady Bears dominated both ends of the court masterfully and the Cromer sisters were dominate. Graceson scored 17 as Graceson hit four threes in part of her 16 points.
Final: 62-18 Conway
5 Morrisville vs 13 Niangua
This one was without a doubt a better game than the first one of the day. Niangua despite having a shallow roster made up for it in grit and really outplaying the Lady Panthers for most of the game. Fatigue did play a part of the game as Morrisville was able to extend the lead late en route to their victory. Libby Painter led the way with 15points for the Lady Panthers.
Final: 59-25 MCE
15 Verona vs 10 Pierce City
Pierce City jumped out quick and really didn’t look back. They use great defense to take advantage of Verona missing Yoselin Martinez. They jumped to a 14-2 lead and just kept building on it the entire way. Verona wouldn’t give up as they continued to play hard the rest of the game, but it was too much to overcome. Pierce City was led in scoring by Sydnee Prater with points 13.
Final: 51-17 Pierce City
14 Hurley vs 11 Fordland
Fordland came out quick and built up a lead pretty early on. The story was the defense of the Lady Eagles as Hurley was held to just 2 points in the opening quarter. The defensive pressure kept up and was able to force a ton of turnovers as Fordland was able to run away with this one. Hoskins was fantastic for the Eagles as she hit 5 threes in
Final: 55-27 Fordland
1 Miller vs 8 Walnut Grove
The game was competitive early on as tough defense on both sides limited offensive opportunities. Miller’s Payten Richardson got an and 1 to fall late in the 1st quarter for her 1,000 point of her career. Miller led 9-6. The teams kept it close through three quarters and into the fourth. Miller was able to make plays at the end of the game to secure the win.
Final: 32-19 Miller
4 Ash Grove vs 12 Greenfield
Ash Grove came out and asserted themselves early. The duo of Khloe Moad and Brittany Gilliland set the tone defensively. The Lady Pirates jumped out big early. Greenfield would make a run bringing the game back within five points The game took a turn when Marlie Wright suffered an ankle injury and Greenfield was unable to get anything going after then. That allowed Ash Grove to run away with the game late.
Final: 51-19 Ash Grove
2 Hollister vs 7 Crane
This one started as a fantastic game. Both team’s defense was really bringing the intensity and that led to not many points being scored. Then the Simpson girls got going. Mackenzie and Carley were fantastic scoring the ball 14 and 22 respectively and they took the game into their own hands in a big way.
Final: 55-38 Hollister
3 Sparta vs 6 Mack’s Creek
Sparta was very impressive in this matchup. They came out quick and with suffocating defense and great shooting from Brynn Holt and co. they jumped out to a convincing 32-7 lead in the 2nd quarter. Despite the back and forth between fan bases in the stands, Sparta was able to take care of business behind 33 points from Shelby McMurry.
Final: 71-48 Sparta
Team of the Day
Miller. This could be a hot take as the top seed was caught in a dogfight there until late. Let me talk to you about this Miller team. Their scores will never be pretty. With the way they like to play, they want to take the air out of the ball, and they want to win while only scoring 40 points. As I mentioned about the Miller boys, Coach Price institutes a very” Hoosiers” approach and it can be a lot of fun to watch at times. Morale of the story, The Lady Cardinals came into a gym against the host school in front of a hostile crowd and survived and advanced. That is what championship teams do.
Player of the Day
Brittany Gilliland. She got the job done on both ends of the court. Greenfield isn’t an easy team to defend with two very capable scorers. Gilliland was able to wreak havoc in the backcourt as she accumulated steal after steal. Most of those resulted in points on the other end. In a game where Khloe Moad struggled to get into a rhythm, Gilliland got 18 points to fall in a win over a solid Greenfield team.
Winner of the day
Small school girls’ basketball. Well, this is already one of the best small school tournaments of the season and colleges are figuring out that these small school girls can play. In the stands for most of the day was BBC head coach Dakota Webb and the resurgent Cottey College assistant Evan Belk. There’s already a plethora of girls committed to those schools plus Moad who a future MSU Lady Bear is. Two more athletes got the elusive scholarship offer today which is a win for small school basketball players everywhere.
Loser of the Day
Injuries. Sure, there’s winners and losers on the court in every game. However, no one wins when a student athlete goes down. These injuries were magnified during the Niangua game. The Lady Cardinals were shorthanded anyway with only 5 players traveling but when three of those gets hurt to the point that most of the time, they wouldn’t still be on the court, its about survival. The bug hit again later on as Greenfield’s Marlie Wright and Hollister’s Mackenzie Simpson both rolled their ankles pretty bad in their games. Win or lose on the court, no one wants to see any athlete go down hurt and when they do, we all lose.
Skylan Says Results
Day 2: 6-8
Overall: 14-16
