The annual basketball matchup between the Lafayette County schools of St Paul Lutheran and Lafayette County C-One took place Thursday, Jan. 16, which again produced a very entertaining doubleheader heard on KMMO-FM. When the smoke cleared in Higginsville, both Husker squads were winners in both games against the visitors from the I-70 Conference.
First, the Husker girls grabbed the lead late in the opening period of their contest before holding off a St. Paul fourth-quarter rally to defeat the Saints, 61-51. Then in the nightcap, the Husker boys overcame a mistake-filled opening half to eventually pull away in the final eight minutes of their game and win, 74-52.
Fast Finish Overcomes A Sputtering Start
Trailing 23-21 at intermission, the Husker boys outscored the Saints 53-29 in the last half and more specifically, 24-7 during the fourth quarter to post a decisive victory.
At the beginning of the contest it took Lafayette County four minutes to get on the board as they were behind 7-0 early. The Huskers trailed 10-8 after one period, then led 16-10 midway through the second quarter before a 13-5 run by the Saints put St. Paul back on top by two at the break. After that, the rest of the evening tilted the Huskers’ way as they were ahead, 50-45 going into the fourth period. The final eight minutes were definitely owned by the Huskers as they went on to win, 74-52. It marked the ninth straight victory for the Lafayette County boys over St. Paul while improving to 9-2 on the season.
Both sides had three people in double figures. William Button led Lafayette County with 26 points as Eamon Todd tossed in 13 points during the fourth quarter alone to end up with 18 overall. Next in line for the winners was Robert Allery who tallied 13 points, all of his coming in the last half. St. Paul fell to 8-3 with the loss. They were paced by 18 points from Kaden Gallup with Tate Kreisel scoring 17 and Easton Sheets contributing 13.
Underclassmen Lead The Way
Relying on the offensive prowess of a couple of underclassmen, the Husker girls grabbed the lead late in the first quarter of their skirmish and never trailed again, going on to win by double digits.
Despite being shackled with foul trouble and seeing two girls eventually foul out, Lafayette County was in front, 14-10 after one quarter and then 28-19 at the break. The Huskers were ahead by 13 points on more than one occasion in the last half before St. Paul rallied to get within four late. However, that was as close as the visitors could come with sophomore Addison Frerking then tossing in back to back baskets to stem the tide as Higginsville went on to win, 61-51.
The shooting eye of Frerking produced five three-pointers and 21 points to lead the 5-7 Huskers while freshman Ada Stoner chipped in with 15 during the evening. Now .500 on the year as they fell to 6-6, the Saints were paced by 18 points from Bella Woods while Morgan Anderson added 16 of her own.
Other Scores From Thursday Night
Girls
Bucklin/Macon County 42 Tina-Avalon 30
La Monte 34 Orrick 27
Kauffman Academy 42 Wellington-Napoleon 39
St. Elizabeth 76 Bunceton/Otterville 33
Boys
Cairo 71 La Plata 37
Harrisburg 73 Sacred Heart 35
Sweet Springs 54 Breckenridge 23
Orrick 46 La Monte 36
Butler 54 Holden 45
Tina-Avalon 58 Bucklin/Macon County 49
Tournaments
Pleasant Hill Tournament, Girls Consolation
KC Pembroke Hill 50 Marshall 41
Milan Tournament
Girls Consolation: Putnam County 45 Brookfield 40
Girls Semifinals: Marceline 45 Green City 43
Boys Consolation: Marceline 41 Milan 37
Boys Semifinals: North Missouri Knights 74 Putnam County 54
30th Lawson Tournament
Girls: Odessa 49 Cameron 41
Boys: Richmond 71 Cameron 38
California Tournament, Boys Second Round
Consolation Bracket:
Moberly 64 Fulton 50
Capital City 61 Warrensburg 47
Boys Semifinals:
Eugene 59 Boonville 49
Chillicothe 47 California 29
A Full Friday Night of Basketball
We have a busy Friday night of basketball on our airwaves. Beginning with our pregame show at 5:20 p.m. on KMMO AM 1300, the Marshall Owls will wrap up play in the Pleasant Hill Tournament by facing Oak Grove in the fifth place game.
The KMMO Games of the Week will take us to Sedalia, where Sacred Heart prepare to host Green Ridge in a Pettis County derby. Both games will air on KMMO-FM 102.9, with the girls game tipping off around 6 p.m., with the boys contest following around 7:30 p.m. Also in the Kaysinger Conference, the Cole Camp Bluebirds host Windsor. Our stream of the games begin at 6 p.m. for the girls game, with the boys around 7:30 p.m., on KMMO.com.
After tonight’s basketball coverage will come our first Round Ball Wrap Up show of 2025. It’s KMMO’s rundown of tonight’s scores complimented by interviews with many of our area coaches.
Other games scheduled for tonight include:
Doubleheaders
Bucklin/Macon County at Southwest Livingston
Butler at Versailles
Community at New Franklin
Knox County at Westran
Leeton at Harrisonville
Lexington at Lafayette County
Lone Jack at Concordia
Madison at Glasgow
Northeast R-IV (Cairo) at Pilot Grove
Northwestern (Mendon) at Higbee
Northwest (Hughesville) at La Monte
Prairie Home at Jamestown
Salisbury at Scotland County
Stover at Lincoln
Sturgeon at Slater
Sweet Springs at Santa Fe
Tina-Avalon at Norborne
Wellington-Napoleon at Crest Ridge
Girls
Paris JV at Keytesville
South Shelby at Quincy (Ill.) Notre Dame
Smithton at Bunceton/Otterville
Boys
Breckenridge at Orrick
Columbia Independent at Keytesville
Drexel at Kingsville
Knob Noster at Holden
Smithton at Otterville
Waynesville at Smith-Cotton
Shootout
The Mid-Missouri Invitational Shootout hosted by Harrisburg takes place this weekend with four games tonight beginning at 4:30 p.m., in addition to eight games set for Saturday starting at 10 a.m.
Tonight’s schedule at Harrisburg is:
4:30 pm: Boys) Fayette vs. Belle
6:00 pm: Girls) Fayette vs. Canton
7:30 pm: Boys) Brunswick vs. Warrenton
9:00 pm: Girls) Harrisburg vs. Boonville