The Frisco League’s annual conference basketball tournament kicked off Saturday afternoon at Laquey High School. Saturday were both boys’ and girls’ play-in games as well as both boys’ and girls’ 4 vs. 5 first-round matchups.
On Monday, the girls completed the first round. Here are summaries from completed action:
First Round
Girls’ Bracket
Monday
(1) Richland 69, (9) Plato 45
Richland’s fast-and-furious running attack proved too much for the Lady Eagles (1-1), who never had much of a chance.
The Lady Bears (1-0) jumped out to a nine-point lead at the end of the first quarter, and then expanded their lead to 19 at the half.
“We did exactly what we wanted to do tonight,” said Richland head coach Rich Mueller.
Mueller’s wants his team doing doing everything quickly - getting downcourt, shooting and getting back on defense. The Lady Bears did exactly that, running and shooting circles around the overmatched Plato defense. Sophomore Kylie Eldridge scored 24 for the Bears, sinking six three-pointers.
“It was a comfortable win,” Mueller said. “It gave our young team some confidence. We were supposed to win big, and we did.”
Richland will take on Licking in the semifinals on Friday night, while Plato faces Iberia in the loser’s bracket.
Individual scoring:
Plato (45): Baker 1-0-2, Cook 4-0-9, Cobb 4-4-13, Cantrell 1-4-7, Peterson 4-1-9, Stone 2-0-5, Crewse 0-0-0, Totals 16-9-45.
Richland (69): Hawkins 1-2-4, Case 4-0-8, Braithwait 3-5-11, Maness 2-0-4, Warren 3-3-9, Eldridge 9-0-24, Hutton 2-0-5, Crewse 1-0-2, Baranowski 1-0-2, Dunlop, DNP, Totals 26-10-69.
(2)Laquey 54, (7) Crocker 44
Senir Shelbee Cowart’s 24 points and sophomore Tyler Brock’s 13 rebounds led Laquey (1-0) to a win over Crocker (0-1).
The Lady Hornets led most of the way, but the Lady Lions made it interesting with a 16-point fourth quarter, cutting the lead to six halfway through the period. Kaitlin Boyle led the Lady Lions in both points (23) and rebounds (11).
Laquey goes on to face the Dixon/Newburg winner on Friday, while Crocker faces Stoutland in the consolation bracket on Wednesday night.
Individual scoring:
Crocker (44): K. Boyle 10-2-23, Street 1-0-3, A. Boyle 1-0-2, Cantrell 0-1-1, Kubinski 2-0-4, Pitts 3-0-8, Edwards 2-0-4, Totals 19-3-44.
Laquey (54): Cowart 10-1-24, Gan 0-0-0, Murray 1-3-5, Brock 8-3-19, Cristoffer 0-0-0, Miller 3-2-8, Totals 22-8-54.
Saturday
(5) Licking 49, (4) Iberia 56
The Licking girls’ basketball team fought back from an early halftime deficit to beat Iberia 49-46 in overtime on Saturday in the first round of the Frisco League Tournament.
“We were patient on the offensive end,” said Licking head coach Gary Gorman. “And I got them to make some defensive adjustments at the half.”
The fifth-seeded Lady Wildcats (1-0), down 25-19 at halftime, held fourth-seeded Iberia (0-1) to just three points in the third quarter. The two teams traded baskets (and leads) for much of the fourth quarter.
“Our post players got two shots to go in when the game was close or tied,” Gorman said. “That was big for us.”
With time running down and Licking up two, Iberia senior guard Jessi Zink hit an 18-foot jumper with 1.7 seconds on the clock. She drew a foul but missed the free throw, sending the game to overtime.
Ultimately the Lady Wildcats proved too much for the Lady Rangers, outscoring them 7-4 in the extra period.
Zink led the Lady Rangers with 14 points and ten rebounds. Duncan had five points, Amanda Jefferies scored seven and Haley Roark scored six.
For Licking, junior Shelby Ellison led the way with 21 points. Senior Shelby Wade grabbed eight rebounds while senior Cameron Heithold had seven.
Gorman said he liked the way that both teams played.
“It’s a four vs. five matchup so we knew we were going to be evenly matched,” he said. “Zink and [Iberia sophomore Hattie] Duncan are a nice pair of players.”
Licking will take on Richland Friday at 7 p.m. while Iberia goes on to face Plato at 4 p.m. Friday.
Individual scoring:
Licking (49): Whittaker 0-1-1, Duncan 3-0-6, Wade 4-0-10, Ellison 9-2-21, Heithhold 4-0-8, Friend 1-0-3, Totals 21-3-49.
Iberia (46): Rowden 2-0-4, Zink 3-8-14, Ash 2-0-2, Duncan 2-1-5, Rodden3-1-7, Roark 2-0-6, Jefferies 3-1-7, Totals 15-13-46.
First Round
Boys’ Bracket
Saturday
(4) Iberia 68, (5) Dixon 45
The fourth-seeded Rangers pulled out to a big lead in the third quarter and never looked back.
Junior Ethan Minnick led the Rangers with 18 points, including four 3-pointers.
“That was as hard as I’ve ever seen him play,” said Iberia head coach Steve Scholfield. “He kept us in the first half offensivley and picked us up on D.”
The team as a whole shot very well from behind the arc, netting seven.
“We like to go inside first, but if we have the open shot outside, we’ll take it,” Scholfield said. “And once we took the lead it was easier to shoot.”
Dixon couldn’t recover from a woeful third quarter in which they scored only eight points and gave up 24. It also helped that the Bulldogs allowed the Rangers to take 17 free throws while shooting none of their own.
Damon Burrow led the Bulldogs with 14 points while Gerad Weider grabbed eight rebunds.
For Iberia, Matt Edmonds had a sensational game on both sides of the floor, scoring 12, grabbing 12 rebounds and blocking two shots.
The Rangers (1-0) await the winner of Tuesday’s Laquey-Lickig matchup. The Bulldogs (0-1) will play the loser.
Individual scoring:
Dixon (45): York 0-0-0, Eli Bowers 3-0-6, Holsten 2-0-4, Durham 5-0-10, Burrow 6-0-14, Benefield 1-0-3, Wright 1-0-2, Ethan Bowers 1-0-3, Totals 21-0-45.
Iberia (68) : Plemmons 5-1-11, Dickey 4-4-15, E. Minnick 6-1-18, G. Minnick 3-2-8, Edmonds 3-6-12, Shreve 1-0-2, Cooke 1-0-3, Totals 23-14-68.
Play-in games
Girls
(9) Plato 48, (8) Stoutland 37
Junior Carson Peterson led the Lady Eagles with 20 points and 16 rebounds. The Lady Tigers (1-1) couldn’t get it going, although Micah White and Hilary Shepherd both scored 10.
Stoutland will play Crocker on Friday at 5 p.m.
Individual scoring:
Plato (48) : Baker 1-0-2, Cook 2-1-5, Cobb 5-2-15, Cantrell 1-0-2, Peterson 8-1-20, Stone 0-2-2, Crews, 1-0-2, Totals 18-6-48.
Stoutland (37) : Boatwright 1-0-2, Shepherd 4-0-10, Stamper 0-2-2, White 5-0-10, O’Dell 3-0-7, Snead 1-0-2, McGee 1-2-4.
Boys
(9) Licking 55, (8) Crocker 42
Tyler Hunt scored 28 points as the Wildcats dominated the Lions. Dylan Link scored ten and grabbed nine boards for Licking (1-0) in a game characterized by turnovers and fouls. The teams combined for 59 turnovers and 28 fouls.
Keith Kutcher propelled Crocker (0-1) with 12 points, while Andrew Lowe was in the game despite his injury and scored 8.
The Wildcats will play Laquey on Tuesday at 5 p.m., while Crocker takes on the loser of Tuesday’s Stoutland-Richland contest.
Licking (55) : Hunt 10-4-28, Jones 0-1-1, Link 5-0-10, McDowell 2-0-4, Dalton Vestal 3-0-6, Dylan Vestal 1-1-3, Mordis 0-0-0 Hood 0-0-0, Denbow, DNP (inj), Totals 21-6-55.
Crocker (42) : Lowe 4-2-8, Newcomb 1-2-4, Uherka 2-2-6, D. Smith 3-0-6, Kutcher 4-1-12, B. Smith 2-2-4, Zeigenbein 1-0-2, Totals 10-8-42.
Laquey, Mo. —
