The Chillicothe Lady Hornets concluded their regular season in fitting fashion. Coach Darren Smith’s team controlled the game from the opening tip, playing with togetherness offensively and tenacity on defense to defeat Maryville 68-39. The win wrapped up a perfect record in Midland Empire Conference play at 7-0 to earn the Lady Hornets the conference title. It is the 3rd time Chillicothe girls basketball team has won the conference in the last 8 years under Coach Smith and the first time since 2020.
The Class 4 #3 Lady Hornets scored a season high 68 points in the win including 24 points in the 2nd quarter which gave Chillicothe a 24 point lead at halftime. The offense was extremely balanced as six different players scored at least 8 points in the game. Jolie Bonderer tallied a game high 17, while Lyla Beetsma and Liz Oliver were also in double figures. The defense was disruptive once again tonight holding their opponent to under 40 points for the 20th time this season
The Lady Hornets finish the regular season with a 23-1 record, and earn the #1 seed in the district tournament which begins Monday. With the bye, Chillicothe will play their first postseason game on Wednesday at home against either #4 Maryville or #5 Savannah.
Chillicothe 14 38 52 68
Maryville 7 14 26 39
Individual scoring:
Chillicothe – J. Bonderer 17, Beetsma 12, Oliver 11, Kayanna Cranmer 8, Delanie Kieffer 8, Lydia Bonderer 8, Emerson Staton 4
Maryville – Brylee Acklin 9, Rylee Hornbuckle 7, Jalea Price 6, Annie Sparks 6, Claire Walter 5, Kora Grow 3, Ryesen Steins 2