Routs highlight first round of tourney action

Kelly's Lana Whitworth drives around Malden's Marie Dornbrack in the first round of the Lady Royals Classic Saturday. Brian Rosener, SEMO News Service

BROSELEY -- The 12th annual Lady Royals Holiday Classic Tournament kicked off in Broseley Saturday evening with the winning teams buying into a similar theme. Defense, as Portageville, Charleston, Kelly and Dexter all came with opening round wins.

The night cap featured the No. 2 seed Portageville Lady Bulldogs against the No. 15 seed Sikeston Lady Bulldogs. In the end, it was Portageville's defense and experience that got the best of the young Sikeston squad, coming away with the 56-24 win.

"It was a good win tonight," said Portageville head coach Eric Ellerbrook. "We were

pretty sloppy on the offensive end but I felt like defensively our girls got after it.

"We put a lot of pressure on the ball, got in the passing lanes and really communicated

well on the defensive end."

The Portageville defense forced the Lady Bulldogs into 20 first half turnovers, helping

themselves to an early 16-5 lead after a quarter of play. Jeleea Drake did most of the

damage offensively, working the post for eight first quarter points.

However, the Lady Bulldogs' mistakes really began to take their toll in the second

quarter. As key turnovers turned into several easy baskets for the No. 2 seed, on their

way to a 41-17 halftime lead.

"The one thing that has been our achilles heel this season has been turnovers,"

said Sikeston head coach Homer Jackson. "And not only turnovers, but the types of

turnovers.

"We have to be more discipline against the press and in transition and that

will eliminate some of those easy baskets."

The home Lady Bulldogs continued to keep up the pressure in the second half on their way to a 56-24 final. But despite the loss, Jackson still had some good things about his young team.

"I thought we did a better job of getting the ball out and pushing the tempo," said Jackson. "And I saw some promising things out of our bench tonight too.

"But despite being down, the thing that impressed me the most is that the girls still played hard. And there's no substitute for that."

Leading the way for Portageville (8-0) was Drake with 19 while senior Courtney Chamberlain had 13 with two 3-pointers. Brittney Walker chipped in with 12. Sikeston (0-5) was lead by Asia Liggins who had seven points.

Up next for the No. 2 seeded team is the No. 7 seed Greenville Lady Bears while Sikeston will try to bounce back in the consolation bracket against the host No. 10 seed Twin Rivers Lady Royals.

Charleston 57, New Madrid 19

The No. 6 seed Charleston Lady Bluejays continued with the defensive trend in their win over the No. 11 seed New Madrid County Central Lady Eagles, 57-19.

In what appeared to be a back-and-forth match-up early on, soon turned in to a lopsided affair in favor of the higher seed when the unexpected happened.

Midway through the second quarter, with the Lady Bluejays holding on to a slim 10-9 lead the power went out due to bad weather conditions.

However, when the power came back on, it was the Charleston defense that was lights out. As they held the Lady Eagles to just 13 points for the rest of the half, taking a 24-13 lead heading into the locker room.

"That's all we work on is defense," said Charleston head coach Micheal Minner. "We told the girls that as long as we're in shape, play hard and get after loose balls then we're gonna be in ball games.

"And so far that's what they've done and I couldn't be prouder of them."

The Charleston defense continued to flock in the second half as they cruised to a 57-19 win.

"I thought we played really good in the second half," said Minner. "We picked up the intensity and flew around to the basketball.

"But the thing that really impressed me is how unselfish the girls played. They made the extra pass and we got the easy buckets around the hole.'

Leading the way for the Lady Bluejays (6-0) was junior Jerquawnda Sherrell with 21 points and three 3-pointers while Chelsie Lane chipped in with 10. Shanequa Daniels lead the way for the Lady Eagles (1-5) with seven.

Charleston will take on the the No. 3 seed Kelly Lady Eagles today at 6 p.m. while NMCC will try to bounce back against the No. 14 seed Malden Lady Green Waves.

Kelly 68, Malden 28

The No. 3 seed Kelly Lady Hawks weren't short on intensity in their match up against the No. 14 seed Malden Lady Green Waves as they rolled to the second round with a 68-28 victory.

"It was a very good game and both teams played hard," said Kelly head coach Rod McQuerter. "I'm just happy our girls came out with a positive attitude and proud of their intensity tonight."

The Lady Hawks jumped out quick taking an 18-8 lead after one before heading into half time with the score 39-13.

Kelly would keep up the pace as they came out off the locker room, starting the second half with a 9-0 run before sealing the game 68-28.

Leading the way for the Lady Hawks (5-0) was Debra Hall with 23 points while Londyn Backfisch chipped in with 11. Malden was lead by Jennifer Miller with seven points. The Lady Green Waves will take on the No. 11 seed NMCC in the second round.

Dexter 74, East Carter 20

The top seed Dexter Lady Bearcats held true to their ranking in the tournament opener, beating the No. 16 seed East Carter Lady 74-20.

The No. 1 seed jumped out to a quick 21-7 lead after one quarter of play and that's all they needed for the 74-20 victory.

Dexter (8-0) was lead by 18 points from Katelyn Heil while Jill Temples had 15. Ashlee Taylor got in on the action with 13 while Cathryn Heil made the double digit mark with 10. East Carter was lead by Tiffany Baker who finished with eight.

Up next for the Lady Bearcats will be the No. 9 seed Kennett Lady Indians while East Carter will take on No. 8 seed Doniphan Donetts.

Kennett 44, Doniphan 39

The Kennett Lady Indians edged out the Doniphan Donetts in their tournament opener 44-39.

Doniphan held the lead for most of the game but the Lady Indians held on to a one point lead heading into the fourth quarter to come out with the win.

Leading Kennett (4-2) was Jerica Wheeler who scored 12 while the Donetts (2-2) were lead by Kadie Civils with 16. Erin Pennington added 10 respectively.

Greenville 51, Twin Rivers 23

The No. 7 seed Greenville Lady Bears knocked off the No. 10 seed Twin Rivers Lady Royals 51-23.

The Lady Bears lead 10-5 after the first quarter before pulling away in the second with a 14-7 run.

Leading the way for Greenville (5-3) was Tara Porter who scored 22 points while Andrea Becker chipped in 12. Twin Rivers (3-4) was lead by Chelsea Crain who had 14.

Naylor 62, Senath 38

The No. 4 seed Naylor Lady Eagles took on the No. 12 seed Senath Lions, coming away with a 62-38 victory.

Cheyenne Ragsdale lead the Lady Eagles with 24 points while Moriah Goodrum finished with nine points and 2 3-pointers. Senath was lead by Hannah Kennedy and Megan Smith who each had 10.

Naylor will take on the No. 13 seed Clearwater Lady Tigers while Senath will take on the No. 4 seed Neelyville Lady Tigers.

Clearwater 52, Neelyville 49

The Clearwater Lady Tigers pulled the upset over the Neelyville Lady Tigers 52-49.

Clearwater over came a 21-9 deficit in the first quarter, to take the lead 40-38 heading into the fourth.

Leading the way for the No. 13 seed was Emily Miller who had 23 points while Neelyville was lead by Lindsey Emerson who had 29.