Thursday 6th February 2025

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Fans who attended Thursday night’s session of the 44th Annual Wildcat Classic in Slater probably came to the conclusion that having a lead was not necessarily a good thing with more than one team mounting a big comeback during the course of the evening’s second-round action.

A long night of basketball ended with Carrollton surviving a frantic finish as they came from behind to edge Glasgow in their semifinal-round matchup, 52-49. Handling the ball was a real problem during this contest as both sides kept hurting themselves with some inopportune turnovers.

The Trojans started off in good shape, building for themselves a 10-point advantage during the second period before settling for a 23-15 lead at intermission.

Then it was Glasgow’s turn to respond as they sliced the deficit to four, trailing 33-29 late in the third quarter. Here, the Yellowjackets took control for at least a little while as they went a 12-0 run. They tallied the last four points of the third period and then the first eight of the fourth quarter to go on top, 41-33 with a little more than five minutes left.

However, Carrollton had one final surge left in them as they outscored Glasgow, 19-8 the rest of the way. The Trojans’ Montgomery Ross fired home most of her nine points down the stretch, contributing a basket and a free throw in the final minute to give her team the lead for good. A couple of three-point attempts by Glasgow rimmed out during the waning seconds, enabling Carrollton to secure their 52-49 victory.

In addition to Montgomery Ross’s late-game heroics, Taylor Pierson led the Trojan attack with a 22-point effort as Carrollton won their fifth straight game and improved to 14-3 for the season.  Glasgow saw a seven-game winning streak end while falling to 12-6. Halle Fuemmeler tossed in 28 points to pace her side.

Two Familiar Foes

For the third time in the last four years it’ll be a Santa Fe-Carrollton matchup in the girls’ title game at Slater, as the Chiefs fought off a second-half charge by Jamestown to stop the Lady Eagles, 49-41 in their semifinal-round skirmish.

Despite having more than one player in foul trouble, Santa Fe took advantage of a very shaky second quarter by Jamestown to outscore them 15-2 during that period, breaking a 12-12 tie and claiming a 27-14 halftime lead.  At that point it seemed like the Lady Chiefs were in complete control until Jamestown began to gather momentum during the third quarter. Taking the ball inside with a great deal of success, the Lady Eagles knocked Santa Fe back on their heels by scoring 19 of the next 25 points and tying the game up at 33 early in the last period.  But suddenly, it was Santa Fe’s turn to regain control as they scored the next eight points to grab a 41-33 advantage before going on to win, 49-41.

Picking up the 10th win in their last 11 outings, the Chiefs are now 13-3 on the year. Mia Lark scored 17 points while Emma Michael added 12 and Addison Mullins scored 10 to pace them.  Meanwhile, Jamestown lost for the sixth time in their last nine games as they fell to 9-6 overall.  Samantha Wilson and Rylee Hirschvogel tallied 15 and 14 points respectively to lead the Lady Eagles.

The Santa Fe versus Carrollton matchup in Saturday’s girls’ championship game sees the Trojans trying to shake off an old nemesis as the Chiefs have dominated the series as of late.  Santa Fe beat Carrollton, 39-35 just before Christmas with the Chiefs having won eight times in a row and also 23 of their last 25 meetings against the Trojans.

The Santa Fe girls have also been champions of the Wildcat Classic each of the last five seasons besides winning 18 straight games in the tournament dating back to 2019.

Kicking Things Off

Thursday night’s Wildcat Classic action began during the late-afternoon hours with a couple of consolation-round games occurring.

In a contest that featured two teams much in need of a win, Pilot Grove rallied from a 10-point first-half deficit to grab the lead during the fourth quarter and hold on for a 55-51 victory over Sweet Springs.  Claire Rentel scored 20 points and Brooke Lorenz added 15 for a Tiger squad that is now 5-14 on the year.  Sweet Springs was led by Ashtyn Johnson who tossed in 20 points while Hannah Griggs tallied 12 as the Greyhounds fell to 3-13 overall.

The other losers-bracket contest played on Thursday saw the Brunswick girls roll over Slater, defeating them, 65-29.  Katie Cook knocked down five long-distance bombs and accounted for 23 points to lead her team while Emery Reichert added 14 and Cadence Meyer scored 12 for the 13-5 Brunswick girls.  The Slater squad thus fell to 3-13 on the season as Gretchen Spence tossed in nine points for her side.

The Home Stretch In Slater

The 44th Annual Wildcat Classic at Slater enters the home stretch, as the boys trophy games take place Friday.

Video coverage on our website KMMO.com begins at 4:20 p.m. along with on-air coverage on AM 1300, when Santa Fe and Sweet Springs battle for seventh place. The action moves to FM 102.9 around 6 p.m. for the consolation title between Carrollton and Jamestown. The third-place game at 7:30 p.m. pits Glasgow against Pilot Grove, and then the championship game around 9 p.m. has the hosts Slater facing defending champions Brunswick. After the championship game, tune in for the Round Ball Wrap Up, our recap of the night’s games along with visits by area coaches to highlight their past week’s performance.

Tipping off this evening are three play-in games for the Kaysinger Conference tournament, hosted at State Fair Community College in Sedalia. The eight/nine girls contest starts things off at 4:30 when Sacred Heart face La Monte. The La Monte boys have the ten seed and will face Otterville at 6 p.m., followed by the eighth-seeded Cole Camp Bluebirds against Stover. All eight first-round games will take place Saturday.

Harrisburg will have their seventh-place games Friday evening. The girls contest will have Fulton battling Hallsville at 6 p.m., followed by the Fayette and Linn boys at 7:30 p.m.

Consolation games are set for Friday at the Crest Ridge Cougar Classic. The KC Lutheran and SHerwood girls tip things off at 4:30 in the seventh-place contest, followed by the KC Lutheran and Leeton boys for seventh. The girls’ consolation title game begins around 7 p.m. between Holden and Leeton, followed by the boys’ consolation title game between Concordia and Holden.

Other games scheduled Friday, Jan. 31 include:
Doubleheaders
Kirksville at Hannibal
Macon at Palmyra
North Missouri Knights at Marceline
Orrick at Hardin-Central
Prairie Home at Vienna
Sheldon at Chilhowee

Boys
Lawson at Brookfield
Oak Grove at St. Paul Lutheran
Tipton at Columbia Christian Fellowship