The Chillicothe Lady Hornets met Blue Springs South in Grain Valley Tournament semifinal on Wednesday. The Lady Hornets were looking to advance to the tournament championship game for the third consecutive season.
The game was tied at 2-2 midway through the first quarter, when Chillicothe went on an electrifying 15-0 run. Ava Leamer had a handful of steals and assists, along with a big time three, and Lyla Beetsma slashed her way to the rim, scoring 10 first quarter points, as Chillicothe stormed ahead 17-3 entering the 2nd quarter.
The Lady Hornets found themselves in serious foul trouble before half, with over three minutes to play before intermission, Chillicothe had three key players on the bench, Beetsma, Lexy Smith and Dawson Baxter, each with three fouls. Lydia Bonderer stepped up offensively during that stretch, scoring 8 first half points, and 13 for the game, but Blue Springs South stuck around closing the half with the final four points cutting the deficit to 27-15.
Both offenses were clicking in the 3rd quarter, Jaguars’ point guard Eva Urmacher kept her team in contention with three critical shots from behind the arc in the 3rd quarter, leading the way for Blue Springs South, scoring 21 points on the night. The Jaguars got within nine points, but Lexy Smith stepped up with a pair of threes in the 3rd quarter to answer for Chillicothe and the Lady Hornets led 45-30 entering the 4th quarter.
Lyla Beetsma took over in the 4th quarter to ensure the victory for Chillicothe. Despite battling the first half foul trouble, Beetsma had 23 points in the game to help advance Chillicothe to the tournament championship. Blue Springs South battled through the final buzzer but the margin remained between 9 and 17 points the entirety of the 2nd half, and Chillicothe pulled out the 55-43 win.
The Lady Hornets improve to 16-1 on the season and will face Ray-Pec in the championship game on Friday at 7 PM. The Panthers defeated the hosts Grain Valley in the first semifinal to set up this championship matchup in the Grain Valley Tournament.
Chillicothe 17 27 45 55
Blue Springs South 3 15 30 45
Individual scoring:
Chillicothe – Beetsma 23, Bonderer 13, Smith 9, Leamer 4, Emerson Staton 4, Maicee Albrecht 2
Blue Springs South – Uhrmacher 21, Avery Laplante 10, Jilian Reece 5, Leah Morgan 3, Lindsay Word 2, Mariah Morris 2