By Matt Turer — mturer@ky3.com
@MattTurer
Mountain Grove, Mo. — Round 1 of the 3rd Annual Mountain Grove Holiday Tournament went mostly chalk, with the only upset coming in the tournament’s opening game as 9-seed Houston upended 8-seed Chadwick. Below you’ll find short capsules of each game along with that game’s accompanying photo gallery and double-digit scorers for each team. Below the capsules are a full list of Day 1’s leading scorers (double-digit scorers only).
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(9) Houston 56, (8) Chadwick 49 — CLICK FOR PHOTOS
Houston (3-4) built a 16-point second-half lead and held on to beat Chadwick (4-4) in what was the only win by a lower-seeded team on Day 1 of the tournament. Chadwick closed a 44-28 third-quarter gap to 50-47 with 2:17 left in the fourth quarter on a pair of Brooklyn Driggers free throws but got no closer than three. Houston faces 1-seed Gainesville (6-0) in the quarterfinals.
Houston- Abby Casper 23, Jaydin Ramsey 14
Chadwick- Kayla Loveland 22, Mikayla Bushong 12
(1) Gainesville 62, (16) Salem JV 23 — CLICK FOR PHOTOS
Top-seed Gainesville (7-0) cruised by Salem’s 16-seeded JV team in opening-round play, winning by 39. The Bulldogs led 40-4 in the second half and had no trouble with the inexperienced JV Lady Tigers, forcing numerous first-half turnovers and dominating play in the paint. Gainesville faces 9-seed Houston (3-4) in the quarterfinals.
Gainesville head coach Morris Jenkins on his team’s 7-0 start after graduating last season’s three leading scorers and how he feels about the tournament going forward: “This group of girls has played a lot of basketball and they seem to be playing well together. We know as we go forward through this tournament, there’s a lot of quality teams we can potentially face off against starting with Houston tomorrow. It’ll be a good measuring stick to see where we’re at and what we need to work on going forward.”
Gainesville- Annie Noah 17, Michia Jenkins 16, Destiny Scott 12
(5) Plato 73, (12) Eminence 51 — CLICK FOR PHOTOS
Plato (5-5) got double-digit point days from a trio of scorers (McKenna Crabtree, Janett Garrett, Kendall Hall), beating Eminence by 22. The Lady Eagles led by double figures for the entire second half, pushing that lead to a game-high 29 late in the fourth quarter. Plato had close losses earlier this season to this tournament’s 3-seed in Licking, 62-51, and 2-seed in Salem, 56-51. Plato has also faced 4-seed Willow Springs, losing 69-49. Eminence’s Mariah Smith led all scorers with 21. Plato faces 4-seed Willow Springs (6-4) in the quarterfinals.
Plato head coach Rich Mueller on his confidence after having already played tight games against the tournament’s No. 2 and No. 3 seeds: “I knew going in we had a good chance, our problem is we haven’t played very consistent. If we can come out and play and fire on all cylinders and play defense, I think we can compete with anybody in the tournament.”
Plato- McKenna Crabtree 18, Janett Garrett 18, Kendall Hall 15
Eminence- Mariah Smith 21, Madison Keeling 10
(4) Willow Springs 49, (13) Mountain Grove 40 — CLICK FOR PHOTOS
Mountain Grove (7-4) nearly gave its home crowd a taste of the day’s first big upset after the Panthers turned a 25-18 halftime deficit into a 34-31 lead early in the fourth quarter. But despite that swing, it was Willow Springs (6-4) that dominated the fourth quarter, outscoring Mountain Grove 18-8 and taking the lead for good, 35-34, with 6:22 remaining. Willow Springs showed its depth in the win, with Liliya Dudko, Sydney Miller and Grace Bailey all reaching double figures. The Lady Bears face 5-seed Plato (5-5) in the quarterfinals. (Willow Springs beat Plato, 69-49, on Dec. 12).
Willow Springs head coach D.J. Gutscher on his team’s response to Mountain Grove’s second-half run: “We’ve been preaching being resilient all year long and I thought our kids did a good job of that. We were able to come through a little adversity without catching some breaks, and I thought our kids did a good job of stepping up and executing down the stretch and not showing any panic.”
Mountain Grove– Kacey Watson 18
Willow Springs– Liliya Dudko 12, Sydney Miller 12, Grace Bailey 10
(7) Cuba 38, (10) Mansfield 35 — CLICK FOR PHOTOS
Cuba (5-5) held on to beat Mansfield (1-5) after a 19-8 Lady Lions run was sparked by a technical foul on Mansfield head coach Gary Greene. That run put Mansfield on top, 35-34, with 3.5 minutes to play. But a pair of Grace Steiger free throws quickly put 7-seed Cuba back on top, 36-35. The Lady Wildcats held Mansfield scoreless over the game’s final 3.5 minutes to avoid the upset. No Cuba player reached double figures but eight scored at least two points, led by Ella Smith’s eight. Karsyn Brooke led Mansfield with 11. Cuba outscored Mansfield 16-9 in the second quarter. Cuba faces 2-seed Salem (4-3) in the quarterfinals. (The Wildcats fell to Salem, 67-58, on Dec. 15).
Mansfield-Karsyn Brooke 11
(2) Salem 67, (15) Summersville 23 — CLICK FOR PHOTOS
Salem (4-3) opened things up with an early 16-0 run over an overmatched Summersville (0-7) team, eventually building leads of 25-2 through one quarter and 45-8 at halftime in its 44-point win. Salem’s biggest lead was 45 points at 53-8 midway through the third quarter. The few times Summersville managed to work it inside on Salem, Baylee Bilyeu’s length seemed to push the Wildcats back outside. Bilyeu finished with four blocks in limited minutes as the Tigers starters played minimal minutes. Payton Curley had seven points in the first two minutes, finishing with 11. Camryn Pryor scored 13 in the first half behind three three-pointers. Credit to Summersville for keeping up and raising their effort as the game went on. Freshman Kiersten Bradley led the Wildcats (a team with no seniors and only one junior) with six points. Salem faces 7-seed Cuba in the quarterfinals. (The Lady Tigers beat Cuba, 67-58, on Dec. 15).
Salem– Kaleigh Nash 13, Camryn Pryor 13, Payton Curley 11
(6) MV-BT/Liberty 65, (11) Ava 31 — CLICK FOR PHOTOS
Piper Francis finished with a Day 1 tournament-high 35 points for MV-BT/Liberty (3-4) as the Lady Eagles pulled away from Ava (5-4), 65-31. Liberty led Ava 31-16 at the half and extended its lead to a game-high 30 points with 5.5 minutes remaining in the third quarter. Liberty has played a tough early schedule with losses to Licking (73-62, Nov. 21), Van Buren, Alton and Houston. The Eagles face 3-seed Licking (8-1) in the quarterfinals.
Liberty head coach Jeff Atchison on how sophomore Piper Francis’ success dictates Liberty’s play: “It makes it easier for everybody else. When Piper is shooting outside and can put it to the hole, then everybody else can do what is easy for them. That’s the big thing. I always tell Piper, we need at least 40 from you and Jaclyn [Mantel]. Then, if we just get six or seven from everybody else, we’re going to get at least 60 and we’re going to be pretty good.”
Ava– Kaylee Evans 10
MV-BT/Liberty– Piper Francis 35, Jaclyn Mantel 13
(3) Licking 57, (14) Dora 34 — CLICK FOR PHOTOS
Licking (8-1) patiently chipped its way to a 23-point win over a scrappy Dora Lady Falcons team. The Wildcats were too efficient for Dora (2-4) to keep pace, scoring 16 in each of the first two quarters and 19 in the third quarter before taking off the gas offensively. Dora managed to get into the paint a fair amount on Licking’s defense but faltered due to its inability to finish at the basket. Eight different Lady Wildcats scored at least two points, led by Dalrayn Faringo’s 16. Licking faces 6-seed MV-BT/Liberty in the quarterfinals. (Licking beat Liberty, 73-62, on Nov. 21)
Dora– Desiree Downen 13
Licking– Dalrayn Faringo 16
Round 1 Double-Digit Scorers
35- Piper Francis, MV-BT/Liberty (So.)
23- Abby Casper, Houston (Sr.)
22- Kayla Loveland, Chadwick
21- Mariah Smith, Eminence (Jr.)
18- McKenna Crabtree, Plato (So.)
18- Janett Garrett, Plato (Jr.)
18- Kacey Watson, Mountain Grove (Jr.)
17- Annie Noah, Gainesville (Jr.)
16- Dalrayn Faringo, Licking (Jr.)
16- Michia Jenkins, Gainesville (Sr.)
15- Kendall Hall, Plato (Sr.)
14- Jaydin Ramsey, Houston (Sr.)
13- Desiree Downen, Dora (Jr.)
13- Jaclyn Mantel, MV-BT/Liberty (Sr.)
13- Kaleigh Nash, Salem (Sr.)
13- Camryn Pryor, Salem (Sr.)
12- Mikayla Bushong, Chadwick
12- Liliya Dudko, Willow Springs (Jr.)
12- Sydney Miller, Willow Springs (Jr.)
12- Destiny Scott, Gainesville (Sr.)
11- Karsyn Brooke, Mansfield (So.)
11- Payton Curley, Salem (Sr.)
10- Grace Bailey, Willow Springs (Sr.)
10- Kaylee Evans, Ava (Jr.)
10- Madison Keeling, Eminence (Sr.)
