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Its not quite Christmas yet but it felt like it with day one of the Walnut Grove holiday tournament. We made the best of what we could as we took in 1 Miller vs 16 Fair Play and 8 Walnut Grove vs 9 Conway in Walnut Grove before jogging down to Ash Grove to check out 3 Sparta vs 14 Hurley and 6 Mack’s Creek vs 11 Fordland.
1 Miller vs 16 Fair Play
Miller jumped out to a 22-0 lead and never looked back. Good defense and jumping passing lanes proved to be a mismatch and this one was over at the tip. Claudia Hadlock continued to look like one of the top guards in the state. Hadlock and Helton both finish with 16 in a laugher.
Final Score: 59-6 Miller
8 Walnut Grove vs 9 Conway
It was all defense early as neither team was able to get anything going. Walnut Grove was able to go on several stretches where they seemed to dominate the game but was unable to pull away from the Lady Bears. The Cromer sisters nearly singlehandedly kept the Lady Bears in the game in the first half, but they still trailed 26-18 at half. The offense of Conway struggled to get much going in the second half outside of the Cromer’s as the defense and the three-point shooting of Walnut Grove prevailed. Walnut Groves Elle Smith led the way with 21 points on the night
Final: 44-35
3 Sparta vs 14 Hurley
This was a mismatch from the word go. The Lady Trojans ball movement was elite, and they knocked down their shots at a high clip hitting six deep balls. Shelby McMurry was fantastic scoring 15 points in the win. Brynn Holt also looked very good controlling the offense and finding the open shooter time and time again from the high post. Hurley will want to take this game, learn from it, and move on as they will take on another solid squad Thursday.
Final 63-18 Sparta
6 Mack’s Creek vs 11 Fordland
This was the best game of the day that I saw that came down to the final three minutes. Freshman India Willis was a monster for Mack’s Creek finishing with 28 points. That performance included a 13-16 clip from the free throw line. That was the story as the Lady Pirates as a team went 28-41 from the stripe. Emma Trotter led the way for Fordland with 16 points. However, she was unable to counteract the Lady Pirates mark from the free throw line.
Final 58-51 Mack’s Creek
Other results
4 Ash Grove 57
13 Niangua 42
5 Morrisville 51
12 Greenfield 53
2 Hollister 71
15 Verona 7
7 Crane 52
10 Pierce City 41
Team of the day
None other than the Greenfield Lady Wildcats. Obviously, a win over the 5th seeded Lady Panthers is huge but the win also sets up a very interesting matchup with Ash Grove who didn’t win quite how you would expect.
Player of the day
Trista Torres. She had a fantastic day in the win over Morrisville. She led the way for Greenfield with 19 points, 10 rebounds and 4 steals in yet another double-double performance. However, what makes Greenfield dangerous is their 1-2 punch with Torres and Marlie Wright. Wright also finished with a double-double tallying 18 points, 10 boards and 5 steals. Congratulations to the Lady Wildcats on their big night
Also Worth Noting
Ashtyn Callaway also had a fantastic night for Niangua in the Lady Cardinals loss to Ash Grove. Callaway led the game with 26 points in the near upset of the 4th seeded Lady Pirates.
Skylan Says Results
Here is what I was looking forward to. How did I do in my picks? I sit at 7-1 after day one correctly picking Miller, Hollister, Sparta, Ash Grove, Mack’s Creek, Crane, and Greenfield (Not wanting to brag but yes picking this one right felt good) The one game I had missed on was Walnut Grove defeating Conway after lighting up the three-point line. Either way I had Conway falling to Miller in the next round so it’s not detrimental yet.