College Heights girls basketball is headed back to the sectional round of the Class 2 state tournament for the first time since the 2019-20 season.
The Cougars (17-11) spent the first half of the Class 2 District 12 title game building a double-digit cushion and spent the second half making sure Pierce City (15-14) couldn’t string enough possessions together on offense to make a serious run at the lead. College Heights ultimately pulled away for a 55-42 win in the championship round over the Eagles on Saturday inside the CHC Athletic Facility.
“It means everything,” College Heights coach John Blankenship said. “I wanted this so badly for our kids because they’ve worked so hard. This was one of our goals for the season. To see their daily work, showing up and being consistent in practice, working hard, giving the extra effort, watching game film together at lunch, sacrificing a lot of free time—it was all for this moment.
“I could not be more proud of our kids. They played well and were consistent tonight. The defense was great. … We didn’t press a whole lot tonight, and that was by design … but our defense has been key to our success all season long. The entire team played great defense tonight. … It is special and helped us keep that lead tonight.”
SECTIONAL BOUND
College Heights takes on Fordland (20-8) at 6 p.m. on Tuesday in the sectional round at Carthage High School.
STAT LEADERS
Seniors Jayli Johnson and Addie Lawrence led CHC in scoring with 12 points apiece. Johnson finished with five assists and two steals, while Lawrence sank four 3-pointers and six rebounds. Junior Maddy Colin and sophomore Libby Fanning each scored 11 points in the win, while senior Lauren Ukena added six. Fanning had 12 rebounds to finish with a double-double.
Senior Madi Tindell had 20 points to lead Pierce City, while senior Olivia Stanphill had nine and senior Keishia Delgado scored eight in the loss.
GAME ACTION
College Heights used a 12-4 run to close out the first period to build a seven-point lead heading into the second period.
Ukena kicked off the run with a steal for a layup on the break the other way to give the Cougars a 6-5 lead, the fourth lead change of the game to that point. Johnson added a score on the drive before Delgado drove in for a bucket to trim the CHC lead to 8-7. College Heights buried back to back 3-pointers from Lawrence in the corner and Fanning at top of the key, with Johnson garnering assists on both perimeter makes, to put CHC on top 14-7. The Cougars ultimately went into the second quarter with a 16-9 advantage.
“It built some momentum for us, but it built our confidence more than anything,” Blankenship said. “Pierce City is a very good basketball team, so we knew it was going to be a tough game. When you extend that lead a little bit, it gives you a little breathing room. If you make a mistake or two, it’s not too costly. Getting that lead early was important.”
Johnson scored on the drive to open the second quarter before jumping a passing lane for a layup the other way in transition to give College Heights its first double-digit lead, 20-9. Fanning passed out of a double team to find Lawrence in the corner for a 3-pointer moments later to put the Cougars on top 23-11 with 5:15 left in the first half.
College Heights took a 27-16 lead into the intermission, and pushed the margin to 15 points early in the second half on an inside score from Colin before she added a charity at the stripe. Ukena earned a steal for a score on the break to put CHC up 34-19 at the 4:31 mark. Ava Lett converted from the perimeter shortly after for a 37-21 cushion.
“We talked about it at halftime—we played well in the first half, but it’s a 32-minute game and not a 16-minute game,” Blankenship said of his team’s start to the third quarter. “I told them we could not be content with what we did in the first half and that the first three minutes of the third quarter would be crucial. They listened. We came out and played well in the first three minutes and built that lead. That was significant.”
Pierce City didn’t go away. The Eagles scored the final four buckets of the third quarter to trim their deficit to single digits. Stanphill highlighted the run with two baskets, which included an inside score with 2.3 seconds left to cut the Cougars’ lead to 37-29 with one quarter to play.
Pierce City’s Macie Crowther grabbed an offensive rebound for a putback score with less than seven minutes to play to get the Eagles within six of the lead, 39-33.
Lawrence buried a 3-pointer from the wing, Fanning grabbed an offensive rebound on the front end of a one-and-one and took it back up for a scoring inside and Johnson added a score on the break off an Eagles’ turnover to swing the momentum back in the Cougars’ favor, giving College Heights a 46-33 lead. After two charities from Pierce City, Lawrence again converted from long range for CHC for a 49-35 cushion near the four-minute mark
“Our senior leadership with Addie, Jayli and Lauren tonight was incredible,” Blankenship said when asked about his team’s ability to hold off the Eagles down the stretch. “They set the tone with their leadership out on the floor and by taking great shots. Addie hit some huge 3-pointers for us tonight, Jayli was very aggressive with the ball and Lauren’s defense was great. Our seniors led us tonight.
“They did very well, and of course Libby is always a force inside. We had some girls come off the bench to give us some key minutes, Ava Lett hit a big shot for us. Everyone contributed for us.”
Pierce City cut the lead to single digits one last time, 49-40, with 2:44 left in regulation, but the Cougars iced the game at the free-throw line down the stretch after converting six times in eight attempts at the stripe inside the final two and a half minutes of action. Johnson had two makes, while Colin was responsible for the final four free throws in the win.
“Obviously, that was huge,” Blankenship said of the conversion rate at the free-throw line late. “We didn’t shoot quite as well in the first half of the game but when the pressure was on, they stepped to the line and knocked down some key shots. That’s what you want your upperclassmen and leaders to do, and they did it. That was the difference tonight.”
