MCAULEY CATHOLIC GIRLS 52, SHELDON 21
The host McAuley Catholic girls basketball team outscored Sheldon 24-4 in the second period to balloon a double-digit advantage to an insurmountable lead en route to a tournament-opening win over the Panthers to kick off the Mercy/Warrior Classic on Monday.
“In the first half, I thought we came out and didn’t have any energy at all,” McAuley coach Mike Howard said. “We didn’t move the basketball. … And honestly, we just couldn’t get anything to fall. We were 1-for-15 from 3 and 4-for-13 from the free-throw line. … I got into them a little bit at halftime and got some energy going a little bit. Then, we came out and played like we were capable of in the third quarter.”
McAuley started the game in a 6-5 hole with less than four minutes to play in the first quarter before the Warriors closed the opening eight minutes on a 9-2 run to go up 14-8 moving into the second quarter.
Lily Black kicked off the run with two buckets inside before Kayleigh Teeter scored on the break off an assist from Kennedy DeRuy to give McAuley an 11-6 lead with 1:22 to play. DeRuy added a score on the break after drawing contact for a three-point play to finish the run.
The Warriors scored the first five points of the second period fueled by a Kloee Williamson steal and Teeter runout to give McAuley its first double-digit lead of the game, 19-8.
Sheldon answered back with a 7-0 spurt to trim the lead down to four, highlighted by a Madison Gerren 3-pointer, prompting Howard to call a timeout.
McAuley responded with baskets from Abbey Cahalan, Teeter and Williamson to close out the first half with a 25-15 lead.
“(Williamson) is a young freshman, she is my daughter, and so she gets playing time when I can get her in there,” Howard said. “She is raw, but she has ability and she’s got heart. I always look for her to jump start the defense when she is in there. … I was proud of her effort tonight.”
The Warriors put the game out of reach after coming out and scoring 18 unanswered points through the first five minutes of action in the third quarter to push the lead to 43-15. McAuley outscored Sheldon by 20 points in the third — 13 points off turnovers — to take a 49-19 cushion into the final period of play.
“That was the main key, the main goal at halftime,” Howard said of his team’s defensive effort in the third quarter. “Turning up that energy and creating those turnovers, playing a more pressure defense to create those turnovers to get our offense jump started. We weren’t doing very well in our half-court offense in the first half.”
Teeter led the Warriors in the quarter with 14 points, finishing with a game-high 23 points. DeRuy added eight and Black finished with five.
“Kayleigh is a leader, and she always has been since she was a freshman,” Howard said of Teeter’s play. “She has a very high IQ for the game.”
Deburah Lamb led Sheldon with 12 points, while Garren finished with eight.
The Warriors match up with Lamar for a 6:30 p.m. tip on Thursday to continue play in the Mercy/Warrior Classic.
“I am just so happy we are playing,” Howard said. “Last year, it wasn’t too much longer in the year when everything got shut down from COVID. For us to be able to go through this with everything that we’ve learned and still be able to play basketball … I am just so happy we are out here and able to put this thing on because I would hate to not have it. We’ve been doing it for 38 years now, so it’s a big part of this school’s history.”
JOPLIN JV 64, THOMAS JEFFERSON 58
Thomas Jefferson cut Joplin JV’s lead to one possession early in the fourth before the Eagles responded with a nine-point run to take the momentum for the final time on the way to the win in the second game of the Mercy/Warrior Classic.
“(Thomas Jefferson) has guys that have been in the program for a while now,” Joplin JV coach James Spencer said. “They can shoot, they are smart and they attack you. … We didn’t panic. They got up, but we slowly chipped away at it and did some good things. That’s a good team. … We did enough and hit enough shots to help us.”
The Cavaliers took a 14-6 lead into the second quarter before the Eagles caught fire from the perimeter to fuel their rally. Joplin JV knocked down five 3-pointers in the second period, ultimately outscoring Thomas Jefferson 19-12 in the quarter to take a 28-26 lead into halftime.
“Once you see a couple fall, they feed off each other,” Spencer said of his team’s scoring from beyond the arc. “They were confident tonight. When we hit shots, things look good.”
Thomas Jefferson’s Caden Myers converted inside while drawing contact for a three-point play early in the fourth quarter to trim the Joplin JV lead to 46-44, but the Eagle responded with a 12-3 run to build an 11-point cushion, 58-47, with two minutes to play for the game’s final swing.
“That was huge,” Spencer said. “We came up with a couple of stops. … And then hitting shots to spread that out allowed us to finish the game the right way.”
Brantley Morris highlighted the surge with eight points, including a 3-pointer. Morris finished the night with a career and game-high 36 points, knocking down a game-high six 3-balls. Hobbs Campbell finished with 17 points for Joplin.
“Brantley knocks down shots all the time in practice against our varsity,” Spencer said. “He is playing confident and is not scared to take a big shot.”
Myers led Thomas Jefferson with 28 points. Dhruv Gheewala scored 14 and Jay Ball added 12.
Thomas Jefferson plays Sheldon at 8 on Tuesday, while Joplin JV plays Sheldon at 8 on Wednesday.
COLLEGE HEIGHTS CHRISTIAN 71, CARL JUNCTION JV 36
College Heights scored the game’s first 10 points and never looked back in the win over Carl Junction JV in the nightcap of the Mercy/Warrior Classic.
“This wasn’t a varsity team we were playing, but Carl Junction always has quality athletes,” College Heights coach Eric Johnson said. “Carl Junction scrapped. I was pleased with the win, but I thought we made too many turnovers and forced some things. … It was a good start to the tournament.”
The Cougars needed less than two minutes of game action to build a 10-point lead, with Miller Long accounting for six of the points. College Heights added an 11-0 run later in the first to push the advantage to 23-4 with less than three minutes to play in the opening period.
“They were playing comfortably,” Johnson said of his team’s start to the game. “They got some shots around the basket, and Miller hit some shots early, too. When he starts hitting like that, it gives the rest of them confidence. Everyone was involved in that fast start.”
Long was white hot in the opening eight minutes, scoring 17 of his game-high 31 points in the first quarter.
College Heights took a 27-12 lead into the second quarter and pushed the lead to 20 points for the first time after Ethan Meeks, who finished with 13 points in the win, earned a block and went coast to coast for a layup on the break to make the score 36-16 with 4:55 to play.
“He started tonight in place of Hagen Beck because he twisted his ankle last Friday,” Johnson said of Meeks. “Ethan took advantage of that and stepped in there and had a good game on both ends of the floor. It was good for him.”
Carl Junction JV was never able to trim the lead to single digits before the final horn.
Curtis Davenport added nine points in the win for CHC, while the Bulldogs were led in scoring by Jett Hocut’s 13 points.
College Heights plays McAuley at 8 on Thursday, while Carl Junction JV plays McAuley at 5 on Wednesday.
