The top two girls seeds Wednesday advanced to the Centralia Tournament championship game while Moberly and Hallsville advanced on the backside.
Two-seed Boonville defeated Higbee 63-44 but the Lady Tigers came out of the gate hot.
Higbee led 19-10 after the first quarter but got outscored 26-9 in the second quarter. Boonville grabbed and maintained a double digit lead for most of the second half. The Lady Pirates got 15 points on five threes from Karagyn Cooper, 13 from Effie Morris and 10 from Katie Drummond. Higbee’s Ava Welch led all scorers with 19 while Lauren Spilman and Kiersten Rockett contributed 12 and 10 respectively.
Centralia got 20 points from Ryenn Gordon in a 55-26 win over Macon in the other semifinal.
Macon scored the first four points of the game, before Centralia started a 15-0 run that lasted into the second quarter to take the lead for good. Braylin Brunkhorst added 10. Presley Applebury, Payton Weimer, and Reece Barnett each had six points for Macon. The Panthers are 5-0. The Tigerettes fall to 3-2.
Moberly opened the night with a 52-37 win over Salisbury in a consolation semifinal to give Donndre Smith his first win as Lady Spartan head coach.
Salisbury got out to a 10-3 lead after one before Moberly’s response came in the second.
Mia Faught powered Moberly with 18 points. Olivia Dunwoody and Kyia Tydings produced 14 and 13. Once the Lady Spartans went ahead, Salisbury forced a tie three times but never regained the advantage. The Lady Panthers were led by Lydea Britt’s nine points.
In the final game of the night, Elizabeth Lairson hit five threes, four in the second half, to lead Hallsville to a 49-35 win over North Callaway.
Maleah Kilpack added 14. The Ladybirds fell behind 10-0 early, but were able to pull within one point at 35-34 in the fourth quarter.
Hallsville answered with a 14-1 run to end the game. Sophie Olsson led North Callaway with 13, including all ten of the Ladybirds’ first quarter points. Kymorie Myers had 10. Anna Shryock had 8. The Lady Indians are 2-4. North Callaway falls to 0-5.
Freeman Financial and Insurance Outstanding Players of the Game:
Ryenn Gordon (Centralia)
Effie Morris (Boonville)
Mia Faught (Moberly)
Elizabeth Lairson (Hallsville)
Higbee coach Tanner Burton:
Centralia coach Megan Brinkmann:
Macon coach Thomas Kirkland:
Moberly coach Donndre Smith:
Salisbury coach Cloe Billington:
Hallsville coach Lauren Lloyd:
North Callaway coach Andrew Klein:
