PLEASANT HILL, Mo. — By making winning plays down the stretch, top-seeded Nevada edged third-seeded Clinton 46-45 in a thrilling championship game of the Class 4 District 13 tournament on Saturday afternoon at Pleasant Hill High School.
It’s Nevada’s first district championship in girls basketball since 2020.
The district title game was a nail-biter.
Nevada was up 18-14 at the end of the first quarter, but Clinton led 29-27 at halftime.
The Cardinals were clinging to a 35-34 lead at the end of the third period.
The Tigers outscored the Cardinals 12-10 in the fourth quarter to get the win and advance.
Nevada coach Blake Howarth told SoMo Sports that senior guard Maddy Majors hit two clutch free throws with 24 seconds left in the game to give the Tigers a four-point cushion.
Clinton hit a 3-pointer with five seconds left and called a timeout with one second left. After the timeout, Nevada was able to inbound the ball and the clock expired.
Majors and Clara Swearingen scored 15 points apiece for Nevada, while Abbey Heathman added 12 points. Swearingen and Majors each hit a trio of 3-pointers, while Heathman made two treys.
Also for the Tigers, Katie Johnson and Kara Phillips contributed two points apiece.
Mercedez Brown scored 18 points for Clinton (23-6), while Skyte Wilson added 14.
Nevada (21-6) will meet St. Michael the Archangel (18-9) at 6 on Tuesday night in a sectional contest of the state tournament at William Jewell College.
St. Michael defeated Pembroke Hill 79-75 in overtime to win the District 14 title.
