VERONA, Mo. — Second-seeded College Heights Christian made more winning plays down the stretch and the Cougars upended third-seeded Marionville 52-47 on Monday night in a semifinal contest of the Class 2 District 12 girls basketball tournament at Verona High School.
“Marionville is a great team,” College Heights coach John Blankenship said. “This was a great win for us tonight. We had a strong second quarter, scoring 19 points, and our defense really stepped up holding them to eight points in the quarter. Marionville’s coach did a great job of keeping her kids in the game. They played extremely well and tied the game in the fourth quarter. It was close down the stretch. Our defense got a couple of key stops late in the fourth quarter that were instrumental in securing the win. I couldn’t be more proud of my team. They work hard, they are coachable and our team unity is great. They are such a fun group to coach.”
With the win, the Cougars (15-10) will meet No. 1 seed Miller (22-3) at 6 p.m. on Thursday in the district championship game.
“Our reward for winning will be to play Miller, who is ranked third in the state for Class 2,” Blankenship noted. “It will be a difficult matchup for us, but we’re excited just to be in the championship game with such a young team. We are grateful for the opportunity.”
Libby Fanning once again had a double-double for the Cougars, as the freshman recorded 15 points and 14 rebounds. Addie Lawrence contributed 11 points for CHC, while Jayli Johnson compiled nine points, six steals and five assists.
Maddy Colin contributed eight points, six rebounds and three assists for CHC, while Molly Long chipped in eight points and seven rebounds.
In Monday’s other semifinal, Miller rolled past fourth-seeded Wheaton 61-18.
