The games are becoming more and more important as they wind down to a precious few with the end of the high school basketball season now in sight. Lafayette County traveled to Lexington last evening for an MRVC East doubleheader where the boys’ matchup carried significant importance.
When the long night had ended, the host Minutemen found themselves taking a big step toward securing at least a portion of a league championship as they pulled away late to beat the Huskers, 66-54. Prior to that, in a girls’ skirmish which meant little in regard to the conference standings, but was still intensely played, visiting Higginsville rallied from a double-digit deficit for the second game in a row to slip past Lexington, 42-39. The Game of the Week showdown heard on KMMO-FM was played before a sizable and very vocal crowd in the LHS Gymnasium which is somewhat new to hosting important games this late in the season.
Late-Game Surge Spells The Difference
A stagnant second period put the Huskers behind the eight ball late in the first half of their contest against the Lexington boys, leaving them in a hole they could never completely climb out of. Lafayette County was playing pretty well early, holding an 18-14 lead after one period when their momentum began to slip away.
Arguably the Huskers’ top player Eamon Todd, then picked up his third foul with six minutes left in the half and was forced to the sidelines until the third quarter. That was part of a five-minute drought sustained by Higginsville at the start of the second period where an 8-0 Minuteman outburst put the home team on top 22-18 as Lexington never trailed again. The Minutemen were ahead 29-23 at intermission and soon stretched their advantage to nine early in the third quarter when Lafayette County pieced together one last run at the lead. At one stage of the proceedings, the Huskers had trimmed the margin to just one, but after that they never got over the hump before watching Lexington regain the upper hand during the fourth quarter.
After a technical foul against Lexington, the Huskers missed two free throws and then committed a charging foul on their subsequent possession, coming up empty during that potential five-point trip down the floor. The Minutemen promptly hit a three-pointer to take a two-possession lead with Higginsville never seriously threatening again as the margin eventually grew to 12 at the end, 66-54.
Lexington won thanks to a balanced attack. LHS’s leading scorer, Damario Moss was held six points below his average, tallying 18 for the evening. However, he was only one of four players to reach double figures as Miguel Gonzalez, Cheal Lichte and Zach Melvin tossed in 16, 12 and 11 points respectively. Improving to 6-1 in conference play and 18-3 overall, the Minutemen have now won 10 games in a row as they connected on nine three-pointers during the contest. Having fallen to third place in the MRVC East standings, Higginsville is 5-2 in the league and 17-6 overall, suffering losses in four of their last six outings. The Huskers were paced by Eamon Todd who tallied 20 points despite being in foul trouble much of the contest. Complementing Todd were William Button and Robert Allery who provided 13 and 11 points of their own.
Another Come From Behind Win
Meanwhile, the Lafayette County girls are getting used to posting late-game victories after falling way behind early. Last Friday, the Huskers trailed Knob Noster by as many as 14 points before rallying late and scoring at the buzzer to defeat the Panthers, 47-46.
This time the Higginsville girls were down 17-5 after one period when things began to turn their way. A 7-0 run by the visitors got them back in the game, trailing only 17-12 early in the second quarter. Higginsville then stayed well within striking distance until mounting one last surge at the end. Lexington was on top, 26-22 at the break and then 35-29 entering the last period. Here, Higginsville stepped things up a little more on defense, outscoring the Minutewomen 13-4 during the final frame which enabled them to slip past their opponent late. In the last two minutes, Miriam Cook secured an offensive rebound and then scored to give the Huskers their first lead of the game, 38-37. At the end, freshman Ada Stoner hit two free throws with five seconds to go, handing her team a three-point lead as they hung on for their 42-39 victory.
Desinique Dawkins paced Higginsville with 13 points as the Huskers improved to 3-3 in the conference and 11-11 on the season. Lexington was led by Zoey Earnest who mustered 28 of her side’s 39 points. Despite the performance by Earnest, Lexington’s setback was still their sixth loss in a row as the Minutewomen dropped to 2-5 in the MRVC East and 8-14 for the season.
CLAA Tournament Semifinals
Girls Consolation Bracket
Keytesville 40 Hale/Bosworth 35
Norborne 54 Tina-Avalon 34
Keytesville vs Norborne in the Consolation Title Game Friday, 4:30 p.m.
Boys Consolation Bracket
Hardin-Central 71 Northwestern (Mendon) 34
Tina-Avalon 63 Norborne 32
Hardin-Central vs Tina-Avalon in the Consolation Title Game Friday, 6 p.m.
Girls Semifinals
Higbee 75 Northwestern (Mendon) 27
Brunswick 45 Hardin-Central 24
Mendon vs Hardin-Central in the third-place game Friday, 7:30 p.m.
Higbee v Brunswick for the tournament title Saturday 6:30 p.m.
Boys Semifinals
Brunswick 57 Northwestern (Mendon) 12
Hale/Bosworth 59 Higbee 49
Mendon vs Higbee in the third-place game Saturday, 5 p.m.
Brunswick vs Hale/Bosworth for the tournament title Saturday, 8 p.m.
Additional Finals from Tuesday Night
Girls
Cairo 74 Madison 18
Centralia 59 Mexico 35
Community 52 Sturgeon 46
Harrisburg 70 Russellville 63
Kirksville 59 Moberly 32
South Shelby 60 Macon 36
Tipton 80 Fayette 38
Versailles 41 Hallsville 25
Boys
Cairo 74 Madison 7
Centralia 49 Hannibal 40
Hallsville 94 Versailles 43
Harrisburg 74 Russellville 44
Kirksville 61 Moberly 52 OT
South Shelby 50 Macon 37
Sturgeon 66 Community 26