A trio of Mexico High School basketball girls scored in double figures Monday night in Jefferson City as the Lady Bulldogs knocked off Helias 59-47 for their third varsity victory in a row and eighth in the last 10 games.
Danielle Ingrum posted 16P/2R/3A/1S, Brooke Costley 15P/3R/5A/1S and Sherrell Cooks 11P/8R/1A/2S for the 13-6 Lady Bulldogs in their last non-conference contest of the regular season. Erika Miller addded 9P/10R/3A/1S, Klaira Ekern 5P/2R/2A/1S plus 1 block and Kelsey Creed 3P/1R/3A for Mexico, which led 25-21 at halftime and wound up shooting 49 percent from the field (19-for-39) and 71 percent from the foul line (12-for-17).
“We played a heckuva game. I was really pleased from start to finish,” MHS coach Ed Costley said. “We answered them shot for shot, defensively we kept them off-balance and we did a good job of closing out each quarter.”
Mexico connected on nine of 16 3-pointers, hitting five in a 20-point third period in which Costley made four and Ingrum three. Cooks and Miller helped the Lady Bulldogs stay even at 26-all on the boards.
“Those two did a really good job on their tall post players,” the MHS coach noted. Mexico resumes V/JV NCMC play Thursday at Kirksville.
MEXICO JV GIRLS: The Lady Crusaders rode a 15-2 opening quarter to a 28-8 halftime lead and a 51-21 final. Ceirra Schmidt topped Mexico with 8P/5R/4S.
AREA HOOPS: Monday at Centralia, the Panthers bagged a 71-51 win over Brookfield after putting together a 45-22 first half. Aaron Kroeger netted 20P, including 10 in Centralia’s 24-point second quarter, and Hunter Brumley totaled 13P to pace the 9-7 home team.In the girls varsity contest, it was Brookfield 43, Centralia 40 with the visitors ahead 26-23 at halftime. Emily Crow topped the 4-10 Lady Panthers with 13P. ... Monday at Van-Far, Community R-6 bagged a 26-23 JV win with Justin Gastler collecting 8P/7R, Justin Durham 8P with a pair of 3-pointers, Sean Wilson 7P, Cameron Dubbert 9R and Aaron Fairchild 3S for the 9-4 Trojans. In the JV girls matchup, CR6 beat Van-Far 21-19 with Paige Curtis scoring 7P for the 4-2 Lady Trojans. ... Morgan Brown-Emmons led the 5-12 North Callaway girls in a 41-32 loss Monday to Blair Oaks to start the Southern Boone Invitational. She had 15P and 9R.
More details on weekend games involving Ledgerland high school basketball squads.
PARIS GIRLS: In Friday’s title match with No. 1 seed Sturgeon in the Sturgeon Invitational, the Lady Coyotes bowed 60-46 after falling behind 20-8 in the opening period and trailing 29-22 at halftime.
“We struggled in the first and third quarters offensively, and Sturgeon capitalized on our mistakes to win their own tournament for the second year in a row,” PHS coach Chris Willingham said. “We had a good week of basketball and I am very proud of our effort; we just had a difficult time matching Sturgeon’s athleticism.”
Three players finished in double figures for the host Lady Bulldogs. Kacie Holtkamp and Mallory Embree led the way with 18P each.
For second-seeded Paris, now 9-7, Payton Gruber netted 13P, while Tessa Henderson and Amanda DeOrnellas added 9P apiece. DeOrnellas also had 8R/4S and 6 blocks.
COMMUNITY R-6 GIRLS: The Lady Trojans posted nine of their game’s first 11 points Friday, led 19-10 at the half, then needed a 17-9 stretch run to turn back South Callaway 40-29 for third place in the Sturgeon Invitational.
“Defensively, we really played well and executed our game plan against their very good post player, Berlyn Seitz,” CR6 coach Bob Curtis said. ‘I thought our effort to give them just one shot and out was there all night long.
“Finally our offense caught up with our defense in the fourth quarter,” he continued. “We had 17 points in the quarter, sparked by 13 in the final frame by Brittni Brandwein. She was a leader and refused to lose in the last couple minutes of the game.”
Brandwein led all scorers with 18P, making nine of 13 foul shots, part of a 19-for-27 effort at the line by the 8-7 Lady Trojans. Seitz topped the Lady Bulldogs with 13P.
NORTH CALLAWAY BOYS: Friday at Monroe City, the Thunderbirds led 15-6, 28-16 and 46-25 at the quarters en route to a 65-40 varsity victory, winning without the services of ailing point guard Keaton Oestreich.
Jake Lasley paced 9-6 NorCal with 19P/6R, while Brendan Borman added 13P/5A.
The T-Birds bagged the JV game 35-23 to move to 9-1 behind Cullen Hudson’s 12P.
CENTRALIA BOYS: The host Panthers opened their Clarence Cannon Conference slate with a 60-56 nod Friday over South Shelby. To do so, however, they had to erase a 33-25 halftime deficit and snap a 44-all tie after three quarters.
Aaron Kroeger paced 8-7 Centralia with 15P, while Nic Ford added 13P and Grant Elsbury connected on 4 3-pointers for 12P. Hunter Brumley netted 8P, all in the final period with the help of a pair of 3-pointers, and Kroeger 6P down the stretch for the Panthers.
CENTRALIA GIRLS: State-ranked and once-beaten South Shelby proved too much Friday for the Lady Panthers, who bowed 55-23 at home. Halftime was 32-10 for the Ladybirds.
Caitlin Jerome scored 6P to lead 4-9 Centralia in another CCC opener.
