SHS takes third

Scott City wins Lady Devil Invitational

sd_sports@yahoo.com

CHAFFEE -- Playing Kelly in the third-place game of the Chaffee Lady Devil Invitational Tournament Saturday afternoon, the Sikeston Lady Bulldogs were able to build an early lead that the Lady Hawks would never be able to catch up with.

Outscoring the Lady Hawks 29-12 in the first quarter, the Lady Bulldogs were able to keep Kelly from getting any closer than 12 points in the second half before going on to win 73-51.

"The first quarter we played extremely well," Sikeston coach Matt Schonhoff said. "Our press was working. We were getting steals and baskets and we were causing a lot of problems. We came out really, really focused.

"The rest of the game we were kind of hit and miss. We'd get on spurts and then let them come back (on us)."

Trailing 42-30 at the half, the Lady Hawks watched the Lady Bulldogs come out of the gate hot in the third, scoring seven-straight points to push their lead to 19 before a basket by Kristen Vetter kick started Kelly's offense.

Going on a 13-6 run from Vetter's basket to the end of the third, the Lady Hawks were able to cut Sikeston's lead back down to 12 entering the fourth quarter.

Another slow start, however, doomed Kelly's comeback hopes as the Lady Bulldogs opened up the frame scoring eight consecutive points in the first few minutes to push their lead to 20 and essentially put the game out of reach.

"Considering what we've been going through this week, I'm very proud of our girls," Kelly head coach Rod McQuerter said speaking of injuries such as the one to starting point guard Haley Glastetter earlier in the tournament. "We've had a lot of adversity, but they came out and competed against a very good Sikeston basketball team.

"You know that when your depth is slim because of injuries it's hard to get back into the game, but give Sikeston credit, once we made a run, they were able to capitalize and make another run. That's what good teams do and that's what Sikeston did tonight."

Leading Kelly's third-place bid, Kayla Hicks had 16 points on the contest, scoring 13 in the first half alone.

As for Sikeston, it was another big night for Asia Liggins, who put up 21 points to lead the Lady Bulldogs. She was followed by Aleah Little and Taneshia Pulley, who contributed 13 and 11 points respectively.

Though winning the tournament championship would have been nice, Schonhoff's pleased with how the week went.

"In a tournament like this your goal is to play three games and obviously win as many games as you can," he said. "We're very happy going out of here 2-1. We'd love to have played in the championship game, but we are happy with third and we have a good week of practice ahead of us to get ready for Dexter and then the (Twin Rivers) Christmas Tournament."

Now at 3-1, the Lady Bulldogs will play the visiting Dexter Lady Bearcats Thursday at 6 p.m. while Kelly will host the East Prairie Lady Eagles tonight at 6 p.m.

Sikeston 29 13 13 18 -- 73

Kelly 12 18 13 8 -- 51

SIKESTON (73) -- Tyangela Gibson 3, Keyonna Blissett 8, Darqueshionna Howard 9, Vonteria Applewhite 6, Asia Liggins 21, Anne Dennis 2, Aleah 13, Taneshia Pulley 11. FG 29, FT 14-40, F 20. (3-pointers: Howard 1. Fouled out: none).

KELLY (51) -- Kaitlin Glastetter 5, Bridgette Chandler 8, Karlie Ashcraft 2, Kristen Vetter 8, Kayla Hicks 16, Payton Jones 2, Katie Koonce 2, Kristen Powell 8. FG 20, FT 11-21, F 22. (3-pointers: none. Fouled out: none).

Scott City 41, Delta 35

CHAFFEE -- Looking to repeat as Chaffee Lady Devil Invitational Tournament champions, the Scott City Lady Rams once again faced against the Delta Lady Bobcats Saturday afternoon for this year's title.

Much like they did last season in their 57-50 win over the Lady Bobcats, the Lady Rams were able to take a slim lead into the fourth quarter and hold on for a 41-35 win.

"A win like this in a close game is good for us for later on in the year," Scott City head coach Rickey Keller said. "I don't like them, but I'll take them. I thought we were patient there in the end which is what helped us."

Playing a tight game start-to-finish, Scott City was able to turn a four-point deficit after the first quarter into a four-point lead entering the half thanks to a solid 10-2 run during the second frame.

With Delta unable to make any headway in the third as the two teams put 11 points apiece in the frame, Scott City was able to enter the fourth and final frame with their four-point lead still intact.

Giving the Lady Rams a little breathing room, Melanie Lacey opened up the quarter connecting on two free throws and a two-pointer to push Scott City's lead to eight at 30-22.

The Lady Rams saw Delta make one last push as the Lady Bobcats went on a 6-0 drive led by Samantha Bartels four points to cut the deficit to three at 35-32 with just over two minutes to play.

Unfortunately for Delta, a pair of buckets by Stacey Heisserer and Katie Hogan in the final minute-plus helped seal the game.

"I thought they played hard," Keller said of his girls. "At times we didn't execute like I wanted to and other times we executed very well. (The girls) just never gave up."

With the Lady Bobcats looking to close in the fourth, Scott City made every point count, including going of 5 of 6 from the line in the frame while finishing 8 of 11 overall.

"We knew that they were going to start fouling us," Hogan said of the fourth quarter. "We knew that if we knocked down the free throws and came out with a good defense then they wouldn't have a chance to come back."

Hogan's ten points on the game tied her with Lacey for the team lead with all ten of Hogan's points and eight of Lacey's coming in the second half.

Bartels easily led Delta with 18 points on an afternoon when only three Lady Bobcats made up all of the team's offense. Rounding out their scoring was Machela VanGennip and Macey Parks with 10 and 7 points respectively.

The game marked Delta's tenth straight trip to the tournament finals with four titles in that span to show for it.

Still undefeated on the young season, the 5-0 Lady Rams will travel to Woodland today to play the Lady Cardinals at 6 p.m.

Scott City 5 10 11 15 -- 41

Delta 9 2 11 13 -- 35

SCOTT CITY (41) -- Lindsey Ressel 3, Stacey Heisserer 9, Melanie Lacey 10, Katie Rhymer 3, Katie Hogan 10, Jenna Cummins 1, Andrea Gray 5. FG 15, FT 8-11, F 12. (3-pointers: Gray 1. Fouled out: none).

DELTA (35) -- Machela VanGennip 10, Macey Parks 7, Samantha Bartels 18. FG 12, FT 9-12, F 9. (3-pointers: Bartels 2. Fouled out: none).

Oran 44, Woodland 39

CHAFFEE -- Fighting back from an 11-point deficit at halftime Saturday afternoon, the Oran Lady Eagles claimed the Chaffee Lady Devil Invitational consolation bracket championship.

Trailing 25-14 entering the second half, the Lady Eagles used a pair of 15-point quarters to edge out the Woodland Lady Cardinals 44-39.

"Their effort was tremendous tonight," Oran head coach Adam Friga said of his girls. "We didn't have our point guard (Abbey Anderson), she's out for a little while and she's big part of our team.

"It was a good team effort and the the kids battled really hard all night."

The Lady Eagles had closed to within four at 33-29 going into the fourth before a 15-6 run in the final frame sealed the game.

Leading the comeback was Cheyanne King, who scored a game-high 14 points for the Lady Eagle's with all but two coming in the second half.

Next up, Oran will travel to Scott County Central today, where they will play the Lady Braves at 6 p.m.

Oran 7 7 15 15 -- 44

Woodland 12 13 8 6 -- 39

ORAN (44) -- Taylor Nenninger 3, Haley Glastetter 5, Addie Kielhofner 8, Chrissy Sauceda 5, Cheyanne King 14, Halle Woodfin 9. FG 19, FT 5-10, F 14. (3-pointers: Nenninger 1. Fouled out: none).

WOODLAND (39) -- Josie Long 8, Kathlyn Cooper 2, Tess Rainey 3, Ashley Acup 6, Keighlyn Lincoln 8, Kendra Pinkley 12. FG 16, FT 5-18, F 13. (3-pointers: Rainey 1, Lincoln 1. Fouled out: none).