It’ll be a doubleheader between the hosts and the top-seed for the championships at the 96th New Franklin Invitation, after Thursday’s second-round action saw Westran and New Franklin book their spots amid another fierce round of snow beating down on west central Missouri.

Saturday’s championship contests will feature Westran in the title game once again as both Hornet squads try to defend their tournament crowns.  The boys’ matchup is a repeat of last year’s final with Westran meeting host-school New Franklin. The Hornets won their semifinal-round game late yesterday afternoon by pulling away in the last half to stop Sturgeon, 58-44.

It took a solid, fourth-quarter performance by Westran to stave off their opponent’s upset bid. The Hornets led the Bulldogs by double digits at the break, holding the upper hand, 33-20. However, Sturgeon did put Westran back on their heels by piecing together a 14-5 run which got them within four, 38-34 early in the fourth quarter. But the Bulldogs’ comeback ended right there with the Hornets tallying the next 14 points to give themselves an insurmountable, 52-34 advantage. From there the two sides coasted to the final horn with Westran winning, 58-44.

Cruze Haynes and Jordan Black both scored 12 points while Marshall Kitchen added 10 enabling the Hornets to improve to 10-2 on the year. Meanwhile, Sturgeon fell to 5-6 as Connor Lawson mustered 11 points and Josh Kelly added 10 for the losing side.

Later on, in the lower half of the winner’s bracket, in a skirmish that lasted well into the night, New Franklin came out on top against Fayette with a 61-35 victory over the Falcons.  Here, the Bulldogs stretched their lead from beginning to end as they were ahead, 17-11 after one quarter and then 35-20 at the break. The contest never did go turbo-clock but New Franklin still won comfortably with their substitutes on the floor during the final minutes of play.

Caden Schlotzhauer tossed in 24 points while Landon Shaw added 12 and Rylan Hundley tallied 10 for a Bulldog team that improved to 8-3. Meanwhile, Fayette dropped to 1-6 overall as a mere seven points from Jaron Cross was enough to pace them.

Same Matchup In The Girls’ Final

In semifinal-round action on the girls’ side, New Franklin posted their first win over the Community Trojans in at least nine years by beating their CAC Conference rival, 50-29. On top 26-16 at intermission, the Bulldogs continued to stymie Community during the last half by outscoring them, 24-13 over the final two quarters to win by more than 20.  Lilly Chitwood had 17 points to pace a New Franklin team that won their eighth outing in a row while improving to 10-1 on the season. Leading the losing side in scoring was Payton Beamer who tossed in 13 points for a Community squad that saw a six-game winning streak snapped as they fell to 9-3.

Matching up in the finals against the New Franklin girls will be Westran, after the Hornets had earlier flexed their muscles offensively to roll past Fayette, 68-45.   Averaging only 46 points per game, Westran put 44 on the scoreboard in the opening half to own a 44-30 advantage at the break. After that, Fayette never got within nine the rest of the way with the Hornets extending their margin to nearly 25 by the time the final buzzer sounded.

Emma Wortmann accounted for 18 points while Kylie Hayes scored 13 and Karrigan Fuemmeler added 10 for a Westran team that is back at the .500 level with a mark of 6-6.  Meanwhile, Fayette dropped to 3-5 on the year despite 17 points by Oakleigh Hill.

In The Other Gym

Losers’ bracket action was confined to just two games on Thursday with Sturgeon stopping the Pilot Grove girls, 42-36.  Earlier, the Pilot Grove boys did enjoy a more favorable result as the Tigers handily defeated Community R-VI in their matchup, beating the Trojans, 71-33. Pilot Grove once again benefited from the scoring prowess of Beau Walker who ended up with 30 points for the second night in a row.

Sturgeon’s girls and the Pilot Grove boys will now meet Wellsville-Middletown for consolation honors on Saturday after Wellsville received a pair of wins by forfeit from Prairie Home, who chose not play once again after they weren’t in school Thursday.

Saturday’s Broadcast Schedule

KMMO AM 1300 plans to carry the four games from the new gym Saturday:

9:30 am: Boys Third Place, Fayette vs. Sturgeon
11:00 am: Girls Third Place, Fayette vs. Community
12:30 pm: Girls Championship, Westran vs. New Franklin
2:00 pm: Boys Championship, Westran vs. New Franklin