The girls’ game went down to the wire while the boys’ contest was decided pretty quickly when Santa Fe traveled to Pilot Grove for a basketball doubleheader heard Monday, Jan. 20 on KMMO-FM.
In the girls game, the visiting Chiefs squandered an early double-digit lead before recovering in time to connect on a couple of big baskets late to edge out the Pilot Grove girls, 45-44. Right after that however, the winless Santa Fe boys ran into serious trouble just minutes into the action as they lost in one-sided fashion to the host Tigers, 76-33.
Holding On Late
Emma Michael’s long-distance three-pointer with two minutes left, broke a tie game and gave the Chiefs the lead for good, helping them stretch their winning streak to seven. Michael’s late-game heroics overshadowed the fact that Santa Fe was fortunate to hold on at the end after seeing a sizable lead get away.
The Chiefs were in front, 12-6 after one quarter before widening the margin to a dozen early in the second period. However, Santa Fe’s momentum ended right there in pretty abrupt fashion as the Lady Tigers soon sliced the deficit back down to six, trailing 25-19 at intermission. The two sides then traded baskets during the third quarter, before Pilot Grove made one more run at their opponent early in the final stanza. The Tigers actually led on two different occasions down the stretch before Santa Fe’s Michael eventually knocked down the 21-foot trifecta that put her side on top by three. The Tigers did respond with a pair of baskets in the final couple of minutes, but it was never enough to overtake the Chiefs. Pilot Grove in fact, had the ball down by one with 10 seconds to go, but they misfired on their last possession and ended up falling, 45-44.
Having not lost for the past five weeks, the Santa Fe girls are now 10-2 on the season. Emma Michael led all scorers with 23 points as 17 of hers came in the opening half. Meanwhile, the setback was Pilot Grove’s sixth in their last seven outings as they fell to 3-12 overall. Claire Rentel paced the Tigers with 16 points while Kendall Rhorer tacked on 11.
The Nightcap Was Over Early
In the boys’ matchup, Pilot Grove was on top only 8-6 midway through the first quarter before going on a 38-5 run during a subsequent 12-minute stretch to lead 46-11 at the break. After that, the Tigers were in front 70-31 heading into the final period before the last eight minutes of action were played
with the turbo-clock in effect as Pilot Grove won by more than 40, 76-33.
Now owning a mark of 9-6, the home team had four players in double figures. Beau Walker scored 26 points to pace them while Weston Rentel , Brycen Stephens and Lyle Christy tacked on 14, 13 and 10 points respectively. Meanwhile, still seeking that first victory some 13 games into the season, the Santa Fe boys received eight points from Hayden Tolliver while Ethan Finkeldei tallied seven.
Other Games Monday Night
Girls
Boonville 69 Moberly 21
Fayette 52 North Callaway 43
Hardin-Central 41 Tina-Avalon 14
Leeton 50 Sweet Springs 30
Lincoln 36 Cole Camp 23
Northwestern (Mendon) 37 Southwest Livingston 26
Marshall 44 Odessa 40
Salisbury 58 Green City 47
Sturgeon 50 Wellsville 49 OT (consolation game, New Franklin Tournament)
Warsaw 61 Green Ridge 16
Boys
Marshall 72 Odessa 70 OT
North Callaway 61 Fayette 48
Northwestern (Mendon) 64 Southwest Livingston 32
Prairie Home 76 New Bloomfield 56
Richmond 65 Holden 34
Warsaw 56 Green Ridge 37
Tonight On KMMO
The Marshall Boys welcome a former conference foe to town Tuesday evening when the Boonville Pirates pay a visit. Pregame on KMMO AM 1300 will be around 7 p.m. Also on KMMO.com, we’ll have the Cole Camp Bluebirds as they boys host rivals Lincoln. Pregame is slated for 7:20 p.m.
Other games tonight include:
Doubleheaders
Adrian at Lone Jack
Braymer at Lathrop
Concordia at Montrose
Eugene at Tipton
Fulton at Moberly
Gallatin at Marceline
Green Ridge at La Monte
Hardin-Central at Higbee
Keytesville at Southwest Livingston
Kirksville at Westran
Lexington at Crest Ridge
Mexico at Macon
New Bloomfield at Fayette
Norborne at Brunswick
Northwest (Hughesville) at Smithton
Northwestern (Mendon) at Bevier
Oak Grove at Wellington-Napoleon
Pilot Grove at New Franklin
Sacred Heart at Stover
Salisbury at Brookfield
Sherwood at Leeton
Slater at Glasgow
South Callaway at Harrisburg
Versailles at Warsaw
Girls
Boonville at Centralia
Jefferson City Helias at Cairo
Lafayette County at Carrollton
Lincoln at Jamestown
Odessa at Holden
St. Pius X at Chillicothe
Van Horn at Warrensburg
Boys
Carrollton at Lafayette County
Chillicothe at Hamilton
Kingsville at Orrick
Lighthouse Prep at Jamestown
Lincoln at Cole Camp
Smith-Cotton at Knob Noster
Sweet Springs at Richmond
Windsor at Otterville