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Bronaugh girls advance to district semifinals
By Eric Wade
Daily Mail Sports Editor
HUME -- As any high school basketball team would, the Bronaugh Lady Wildcats entered the Class 1 District 7 Tournament, at Hume High School, with high hopes. As the Lady Wildcats found themselves pitted against the host Lady Hornets, head coach Sean Crane's squad took one step toward realizing those hopes, taking a 61-34 victory Tuesday.
Tuesday's contest was a rematch of a regular-season clash at Hume Friday night, in which Bronaugh's Martell Moore hit a buzzer-beater to lift the Lady Wildcats to a 53-51 victory. Moore's game-winner came after four ties and eight lead changes in the second half.
In stark contrast to that contest, in which the Lady Hornets led, 28-27, at halftime, head coach Delanya Thompson's Lady Hornets defense simply couldn't stop the offensive onslaught from the Lady Wildcats in Tuesday's rematch. Crane's squad came into the contest firing on all cylinders and despite the fact that Hume's Megan Sutcliffe got the game's first bucket 1 minute, 32 seconds after the opening tip, the Lady Wildcats' defense held the Lady Hornets scoreless for the next 7:21.
In that time span, the Lady Wildcats went on a 12-0 run to take a 12-2 lead into the first minute of the second quarter.
That second frame went much better for the hosts, but it was also even better for Bronaugh. As the minutes wore on, Bronaugh extended its lead to as many as 16 points before the Lady Hornets ultimately finished the quarter with a 15-14 advantage to head into the locker room down by nine, at 26-17.
As the second half began, Bronaugh's lead simply continued to grow, as the Lady Wildcats won the third quarter, 13-9, to take a 39-26 lead into the contest's final 8 minutes.
As it turned out, those 39 points Bronaugh scored in the first three quarters were enough to win the game, but Crane's squad wasn't done yet. Despite having a comfortable lead and the game clearly in hand, the Lady Wildcats finished out the contest with their best offensive showing of the night, beating Hume, 22-8, to close out the 27-point victory.
By the time all was said and done, Moore led the offensive effort for the Lady Wildcats with 19 points and was joined in double figures by Amanda Raper, who finished the night with 14. Taylor Stratford added eight, while Heather Baker and Katey Rider each finished with four, and Mandy Murphy, Cydnee Piper, Lora Shaw and Courtney Conner rounded out the scoring for Bronaugh with two apiece.
For Hume, Megan Sutcliffe led the offense with 14 points, while Kaitlee Metcalf added 12 in the losing effort. Brooke Best and Madison Cannon rounded out the scoring for the hosts with four points apiece.
With the win, the Lady Wildcats moved on to face the Lady Blue Jays of Montrose High School in the tournament semifinals, while Hume's loss brought an end to the Lady Hornets' season. Montrose punched its ticket into the district semifinals with a 45-21 win over the Lady Eagles of Miami High School Monday, in the tournament's first night of action.
Results from Thursday's contest were not available at press time.
Appleton City boys 67, Northeast Vernon County 28
More players got into the scoring column for the Appleton City Bulldogs than even played in Tuesday's game for Northeast Vernon County, ultimately allowing the Bulldogs to cruise to a 67-28 victory.
That contest was never really in question, right from the start as the Bulldogs opened up a 17-4 lead after the first 8 minutes that eventually extended to as many as 41 points. In the first three quarters, the Bulldogs scored 17, 19 and 25 points, respectively, while the Knights simply couldn't seem to get much of anything going, due to pervasive ball-handling struggles that lasted throughout the duration of the contest.
Tyler Piepmeier led the offensive effort for the winners with 13 points. He was joined in double figures by Truman Burchett with 10.
For the Knights' Drue Hoagland was the only player to finish in double figures, as he led his team's offense with 13 points in the losing effort. Jayce Vantellman finished with six, while Ty Davis added four, Jacob Hazel and Mitchell Longstreth each finished with two and Trenton Rader rounded out the scoring with one.
With the win, Appleton City moved on to face Bronaugh in the tournament semifinals, while NEVC's season came to an end with the loss. Tipoff in the semifinal contest is set for 7:30 p.m., Thursday, at Hume High School.
Appleton City girls 46, Northeast Vernon County 25
Chelsey Roth's 19 points led the Appleton City Lady Bulldogs as they kept their season alive with a 21-point victory over the Lady Knights of Northeast Vernon County High School in the Class 1, District 7 Tournament Tuesday night.
Head coach Jeremy Barger's Lady Knights never really were able to get much of anything going in the contest and Appleton City took full advantage, opening up a 4-0 lead and forcing Barger to call the game's first timeout, just 31 seconds after the opening tip. Things just went downhill from there for the Lady Knights as they took a 15-9 deficit into the second quarter that simply continued to grow as the minutes wore on.
Camille Buttorff led the offensive effort for the Lady Knights in the losing effort with eight points. Amber Bogardus and Tori Stutzman each added five, while Haley Hays finished with four and Mikelah Moyer rounded out the scoring with three.
With the loss, the Lady Knights' season came to an end, while Appleton City moved on to the tournament semifinals to take on the top-seeded Lady Bobcats of Drexel High School. Results from that contest -- which was scheduled for Wednesday -- were not available at press time.
Bronaugh boys 59, Miami 31
Bronaugh head boys' basketball coach Sean Crane entered Tuesday night's first-round game in the Class 1, District 7 Tournament unsure what to expect, as his squad was pitted against a team it struggled mightily against, earlier in the year. That team -- the Miami Eagles -- stayed right with the Wildcats throughout the duration of the first meeting, ultimately losing by just two points.
Tuesday night was a different story, however, as the Wildcats took the floor at Hume High School ready to play. As the contest began, it was clear who was the better team as the Wildcats built an 18-9 lead after the opening quarter that grew to more than 30 points before Bronaugh secured the 28-point victory.
Dylan Good led the offensive effort for the Eagles with 10 points, including the 1,000th point of his career.
For Bronaugh, Chance Wait led the offensive effort with 18 points and was joined in double figures by Thomas Kerbs with 13. Bryce Whitworth and Jacob Hendrix each added nine, while Cole Diggins finished with eight and Justin Hudson rounded out the scoring with two.
With the win, the Wildcats not only ended the season for the Eagles, but also moved on to face the team that eliminated them from district competition last year -- Appleton City -- in the semifinals. Tipoff in that contest is scheduled for 7:30 p.m., Thursday, at Hume High School.