It was the girls’ turn to be in the spotlight Tuesday, Jan. 28 as first-round action wrapped up at the 44th annual Slater Wildcat Classic. As was the case with the boys on Monday, only one of the four games that took place ended up being close with the skirmish featuring the number-four and number-five seeds winding up pretty competitive throughout.
Jamestown’s Girls Dominate Late
In the only upset of the week so far, fifth-seeded Jamestown finished strong and pulled away from the number-four seeded Brunswick girls down the stretch to defeat the Wildcats, 44-32. It served as the second year in a row where Jamestown’s girls beat Brunswick in the opening round of the Slater Tournament.
Both sides started out slowly on offense with the score tied 16-16 at intermission. After that, Jamestown held the upper hand for most of the final two quarters as they began the last half with a 12-4 run to take a 28-20 lead late in the third period. At that point, Brunswick did respond with three straight baskets and an 8-0 run while fighting back to tie things up at 28. But that proved to be the last hurrah for the ‘Cats as Jamestown responded with the next 10 points to go back on top, 38-28 midway through the final stanza. After that, Jamestown played with one eye on the clock as they coasted to the final horn with a 44-32 victory.
Now owning a record of 9-5, the Eagles received 15 points from Rylee Hirschvogel while Alyssa Hess added 12 of her own. This loss dropped Brunswick to 12-5 for the season as Joslynn Brown tallied 15 points for her side.
Going According To Chalk
Tuesday evening’s other three games went as planned with five-time defending girls’ tournament champion Santa Fe rolling past Slater, 43-12 in the opener.
Slater did hold a 5-4 lead early in the proceedings, but the Wildcats suddenly went scoreless for a 15-minute stretch as the Chiefs tallied 36 straight points to hammer out a 40-5 advantage for themselves. From there, Santa Fe went on to win by more than 30 as the Chiefs didn’t score at all during the final stanza. Emma Michael tallied 16 points for the winners while Mia Lark added 13 of her own, helping the Chiefs improve to 12-3 on the year. Meanwhile, Slater fell to 3-12 as Madison Prysock (Pry-sock) scored 11 points to pace them.
Other One-Sided Wins
Tuesday’s late games were both won by the higher-seeded team in pretty comfortable fashion.
Second-seeded Carrollton had no trouble with Sweet Springs as they rolled past the seventh-seeded Greyhounds, 54-19. The Trojans improved to 13-3 on the season as they knocked down eight three-pointers on the evening. Taylor Pierson scored 17 points while Jenna Owen added 14 for the Carroll County girls who are currently in first place in the MRVC East. Meanwhile, the Sweet Springs squad fell to 3-12 with Ashtyn Johnson tallying eight points on their behalf.
Wrapping up the long evening of basketball, the third-seeded Glasgow girls led throughout as they were big winners over CAC Conference-rival Pilot Grove, 65-35. The Yellowjackets held a resounding 18-2 lead after one period only to see Pilot Grove inch their way back into things, cutting the deficit to just nine, 32-23 early in the last half. That comeback however, only triggered Glasgow on to bigger and better things with the ‘Jackets then going on a 33-12 run the rest of the way to close out a 65-35 victory for themselves. Improving to 12-5 for the year, Halli Fuemmeler scored 21 points to pace Glasgow while Payson Thies came off the bench to tack on 16. Dropping eight of their last 10 outings, Pilot Grove fell to 4-14 overall with Kinley Ruffle, Kendall Rhorer and Milly Waller all providing eight points for their side.
Boys Return To Action Wednesday
The boys return to the court Wednesday evening with semifinal tilts on the schedule for the 44th Annual Wildcat Tournament. All four games will feature video coverage on KMMO.com as well as on our airwaves.
Consolation games kick off the evening around 4:20 p.m. on KMMO AM 1300, when we’ll have pregame of the tilt between Santa Fe and Carrollton. The action will move to FM 102.9 ahead of the other consolation contest between Sweet Springs and Jamestown around 6 p.m. The first winners bracket semifinal is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. between top-seeded Brunswick and Pilot Grove, followed by the other semifinal between the hosts Slater and conference foes Glasgow.
Meanwhile, the Harrisburg tournament will see the girls in action Wednesday. The first consolation game at 6 p.m. in the middle school gym is between Fulton and Blair Oaks, followed by Marshall and Hallsville around 7:30 p.m. Semifinal contests are in the high school gym, beginning at 6 p.m. between Centralia and Fayette, followed at 7:30 by the Central State 8 clash between Linn and the hosts Harrisburg.
Tonight’s pool play games at the Richmond Winter Classic feature the second-seeded Lawson girls against sixth-seed Wellington Napoleon at 5 p.m., third-seeded Kansas City East boys facing sixth-seed Wellington-Napoleon at 6:30 p.m., and then fourth-seeded Cameron boys against fifth-seed Odessa around 8 p.m.
Other contests tonight include:
Doubleheader
Plattsburg at Braymer
Girls
Mexico at Southern Boone
Smith-Cotton at Jefferson City
Boys
Otterville at Kingsville
Tipton at St. Paul Concordia