Lady 'Cats cruise to third-place finish at Golden City Invitational

The Bronaugh Lady Wildcats are all smiles after finishing in third-place at the Golden City Invitational. Pictured, front row from left: Front row: Mandy Murphy and Taylor Stratford. Middle row: Becca Raper, Bonnie Moore, Kaleigh Byram, and Mattie Earnest. Back row: Head Coach Daryl Dodson, Paige wait, Katey Rider, Kailey Harrell, Riley Knapp, Braxton Rocco, and team-manager Kasen Pitts.(Submitted photo)

The Bronaugh Lady Wildcats easily dispatched the Dadeville Lady Bearcats in the third-place game of the Golden City Invitational girls' basketball tournament.

The decisive 60-31 victory was two weeks in the making as the game had previously been rescheduled due to inclement weather.

Bronaugh (14-4) was led in scoring by sophomore forward Riley Knapp who finished with 17 points and a pair of steals. Lady 'Cats' point guard Taylor Stratford added 12 points and two steals; Bonnie Moore 10 points and four steals; Katey Rider 10 points; Mandy Murphy five points and two steals; while Kailey Harrell, Becca Raper, and Paige Wait pitched in with two points apiece.

Friday night contests

In Friday night non-conference hoops action the Lady Wildcats were defeated 53-46 by visiting Hermitage. In the boys' game despite Tyler Strunk's 38-point herculean effort, the Bronaugh Wildcats fell to Hermitage 75-46.

The Wildcats (4-13) trailed 15-7 at the conclusion of the first quarter and 31-18 at halftime. Bronaugh then cut the Hermitage lead to six after outscoring the guest's 18-11 in the third. Hermitage broke the game open in the fourth, outscoring Bronaugh 33-10 for the final 29-point margin.

Stunk, a 6-foot-6 senior forward, accounted for 85 percent of the Wildcats offense on 14-of-20 shooting from the field (1-2 3Pt., 9-11 FT). Strunk also tallied seven rebounds and an assist. Additionally for Bronaugh freshman guard Carsen Gray added five points and Dallas McIntire three, while senior guard Joe Mader chipped in with six rebounds and five assists.

Girls' game

The Lady Wildcats trailed Hermitage 16-10 after one quarter of play and 27-23 at halftime. After Bronaugh came back to tie the contest 39-39 Hermitage responded, outscoring the Lady 'Cats 14-7 in the final frame.

Bronaugh was led by Rider and Stratford as the senior duo combined for 28 points. Rider finished with a team-high 16 points, to go along with seven rebounds, two assists and a block; while Stratford chipped in 12 points (1-1 3Pt.) four rebounds and an assist. Knapp added eight points, Murphy four, Moore, four and Wait, two.

Up next

Bronaugh is slated to matchup with the Baxter Springs (Kan.) Lions in a pair of Tuesday evening non-conference road contests. In addition to the boys' and girls' varsity games, the Bronaugh boys and girls junior varsity teams will also be playing.