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MERCY/WARRIOR CLASSIC: College Heights girls fall in semifinals, to play for third Friday

By:
Brock Sisney

The College Heights Christian girls took a 7-4 lead early on during their Mercy/Warrior Classic semifinal game on Thursday against top-seeded Providence Academy (Ark), but it was short lived.

Molly Long’s old-fashioned three-point play and a Libby Fanning basket gave the Cougars their early lead, but the Patriots rattled off 16 unanswered points over the last three minutes of the first quarter and the first three minutes of the second on the way to a 34-15 halftime lead and a 68-52 victory.

Providence Academy produced a 24-8 advantage during that second quarter, creating a hole for the Cougars they could not overcome despite their improved play in the second half.

“We had a five or six-minute stretch where we turned the ball over too many times and got out of our offensive rhythm a little bit and we struggled on both ends of the floor,” College Heights coach John Blankenship said. “Outside of that stretch, we played really well.

“We were down at halftime. Of course, we talked about that and one of our goals was to come out and win the second half … and we did. We outscored them 37-34 in the second half, so I was pleased with our effort tonight.

“Providence is a very good team, very deep, and all five players on the floor can score. They’re well-coached, just a very athletic team that causes tough matchups for us. We tried to play them man-to-man the first time we played, and we didn’t do very well with that. We ran our triangle-and-2 tonight and had some success with that for a while.”

Fanning led all scorers with 26 points, including 20 in the second half, and Maddy Colin added six points, Jayli Johnson and Lauren Ukena five each, Jesalin Bever four, and Long and Addie Lawrence three points each.

Ava Maner led Providence Academy with 20 points, Karolina Kiraga added 16, Anna Imbo had 11, Abby Franklin hit a pair of threes for her six points, Kami Moseley added four, and Mallory Ellison finished with two points.

College Heights dropped to 12-8 on the season and the Cougars play Aurora (12-6) for third place Friday. The Houn’ Dawgs are playing in both the McAuley Catholic and Seneca tournaments this week.

“Aurora is a Class 4 school, lot bigger than what we are,” Blankenship said. “They’re very athletic, as well, and very fast. Very physical and aggressive, so we will have our work cut out for us again tomorrow night.”

 

THOMAS JEFFERSON GIRLS 44, PURDY 34

The Thomas Jefferson Cavaliers used a 13-2 first quarter to earn a 10-point victory on Thursday over the Purdy Eagles and the right to play for fifth place Friday in the Mercy/Warrior Classic against East Newton.

Lannah Grigg produced a game-high 20 points for the Cavaliers, while Gabbi Hiebert added 15 points. Sarah Mueller added five points, while Tannah Cassatt and Nico Carlson each scored two points during the victory.

Rylee Stanford led Purdy with 12 points, Rosa Schad and Jessi Hoppes combined for 12 more with six points each, Raeley Henderson and Kavery Postlewait each had four points, and Holly Webb added two points.

Thomas Jefferson improved to 10-8 on the season. It’s the program’s winningest season since 2008.

 

MERCY/WARRIOR CLASSIC

Thursday’s results
Thomas Jefferson girls 44, Purdy 34
Providence girls 68, College Heights 52
Sarcoxie boys 49, Providence 40

 

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