Things were true to form in Slater on Tuesday, Jan. 27 as girls’ first-round action at the 45th annual Wildcat Classic took place.
In every instance, the higher ranked teams all won, with the best game of the evening being the match up which pitted fourth-seeded Brunswick against the number-five seed, the Santa Fe girls. This contest featured a couple of squads that haven’t played against each other in years as after 32 minutes of entertaining action, the Wildcats were able to come out on top in a battle of 11-5 teams, claiming a 63-55 verdict over the Chiefs. Sparked by Mia Lark, Santa Fe led for the first quarter and a half only to see Brunswick’s 5-11 senior center Jocelyn Brown then take over, enabling her side to hold the upper hand most of the rest of the way.
Santa Fe owned a 12-10 advantage after one quarter before the Wildcats responded to go on top, 33-29 at intermission. After that, Brunswick appeared to be on the verge of taking control down the stretch, owning a six-point lead on three different occasions in the last half. However, Santa Fe rallied just about every time they needed to, making it a one-possession game near the end. Finally, Brunswick’s defense proved to be too formidable during the last three minutes of play, allowing the Wildcats to pull away to their eight-point victory. Joselyn Brown scored 27 points and Emery Reichart added 17 for Brunswick. Mia Lark paced Santa Fe with 24 points while Tynlee Koch scored 14 and Brooke Dierking provided 12 for the losing side.
The other three girls’ first-round matchups on Tuesday were blow-outs which saw the running clock implemented in each instance. Top-seeded Glasgow rolled past Pilot Grove, 72-23 as Halle Fuemmeler had 22 points while Karsyn Massie scored 14 and Brooklyn Morris chipped in with 10. Second-seeded Jamestown won big over Slater, 65-18. The Eagles had four girls in double figures during this one, led by the 14 points which Olivia Meisenheimer scored, coming off the bench. Wrapping up the session, third-seeded Carrollton shut down Sweet Springs, 58-10, serving as the eighth time this season that the Trojans have held an opponent to fewer than 20 points. Pacing the Carrollton girls Tuesday night was Jenna Owen who contributed 15 points.
The boys will have their first-round games at Slater on Wednesday. The contests begin at 4:30 p.m., when top-seeded Brunswick face Sweet Springs. We’ll have this game on KMMO AM 1300. The action moves to FM 102.9 around 6 p.m. for the four/five contest between the hosts Slater and CAC foes Pilot Grove. Afterward, it’s the two/seven contest pitting Glasgow against Jamestown. The nightcap around 9 p.m. will see Carrollton in the three seed taking on Santa Fe. We’ll also have video coverage on our website, KMMO.com.