The visiting Chillicothe Hornets scored the game’s first 13 points and never looked back during their stinging 72-32 win Tuesday over the Joplin Eagles at Kaminsky Gymnasium.
Chillicothe, receiving votes in Class 4 in the preseason rankings from the Missouri Basketball Coaches Association, led 53-10 at halftime behind a 26-8 first period and then a lopsided 27-2 second quarter in which Joplin made no field goals and only two free throws.
Joplin trailed by 48 points entering the fourth quarter before outscoring Chillicothe 16-8 over the final eight minutes.
“It’s the simple fact of being able to handle pressure,” Joplin coach Brad Cox said. “That was a really good team we played today. We know that we need to get better at our skill, and we need to get better at taking care of the ball. At the end of the day, that’s what beat us tonight. We did a lot of good things in the second half, and we came back and made it more respectable, but at the same time, we’re just behind on skill. The girls are working extremely hard to get better and to build a foundation here at Joplin.”
Chillicothe senior Jessica Reeter scored 20 of her game-high 23 points in the first half, while teammates Kayanna Cranmer and Cali Burkhardt scored all their 11 and nine points, respectively, during that first-half domination of the home team.
The Hornets scored 19 points in the second half, but the damage had already been done.
Sophomore guard Olivia Munn led Joplin with seven points and Isabella Yust, Alissa Owens and Bailey Ledford each chipped in six points for the Eagles.
Ledford scored Joplin’s first two points at 3:56 of the first quarter with a pair of free throws and her junior classmate Bailey Owens made Joplin’s first field goal at 2:30 of the first.
By that point, Chillicothe already led 20-4.
Joplin dropped to 2-8 on the season and the Eagles are slated to close out their 2022 portion of the schedule Thursday at home against Springfield Central.
