North Callaway girls struggle to get going vs South Harrison in HOF Classic

The offense was slow going for the North Callaway girls against South Harrison’s tough defense on Saturday.

The Ladybirds lost their Hall of Fame Classic game 59-36 on Saturday at Father Tolton in Columbia after scoring 14 points in the first half against a defense that has averaged under 40 points a game this season.

North Callaway, who went in on a six-game winning streak, managed to about match South Harrison’s point total in each of the last two quarters, but it was too late. Riley Blevins led North Callaway (16-8) with 11 points and seven rebounds, and Kymorie Myers followed with 10 points and eight rebounds. Megan Norris and Abigail Molloy each led South Harrison (16-6) with 11 points.

North Callaway hosts the Class 3 District 7 tournament starting at 6 p.m. Feb. 19 with its game against Hermann (13-10). 

North Callaway boys struggle to keep up with state-ranked Sacred Heart 71-45

It seemed like the North Callaway boys couldn’t make much of a dent in state-ramled Sacred Heart’s lead on Saturday.

Head coach Matt Miller said the Thunderbirds fought back within around 10 points in their 71-45 loss to Class 1 No. 8 Sacred Heart (18-5) at the Hall of Fame Classic at Father Tolton in Columbia but looked up at the scoreboard soon after and his team were down 20 points. 

North Callaway (7-17) surpassed 20 points in the fourth quarter with 22 but so did Sacred Heart with 26 in that quarter. Sam Pezold led the Thunderbirds with 15 points, four assists and led the team with four defensive rebounds (North Callaway finished with only 10 defensive boards and six on the offensive glass), and Paul Russell followed with nine points and three 3-pointers. Max Van Leer led Sacred Heart with 23 points, Connor Rice had 19 points with four first-quarter 3-pointers and Carter Rice finished with 16 points.

North Callaway plays Class 3 District 7 tournament host New Bloomfield (8-14) at 6 p.m. Feb. 20.