The Chillicothe Hornets took on Kirksville Monday night to begin the final week of the basketball regular season.
On Kirksville’s senior night, Chillicothe prevented the Tigers from building any early game momentum. The Hornets focused on feeding the ball to Jaishon White in the first half, who was in double figures by the break. Defensively Chillicothe was smothering, no Kirksville player had more than one made field goal at halftime. The Hornets led by as many as 11 in the 2nd quarter and went into the locker room up 27-19.
The 2nd half was a different story. The Hornets offense went invisible, unable to create those same quality looks. Meanwhile, Kirksville slowly began to close the gap on the other end. Chillicothe’s double digit margin from the first half was down to two points as the 4th quarter began. Kirksville hit a three midway through the 4th quarter to give the Tigers a 37-35 lead. It was the first time since the 1st quarter that Chillicothe had trailed. The Hornets swung back with White, who had 4 straight points, putting Chillicothe back in front. Trailing by 2, at 41-39 Kirksville’s Kyle White drove the baseline and scored to tie things up. The next possession, with under a minute to go, Kirksville was looking to break the deadlock when Chillicothe came up with a steal, however the Hornets immediately turned the ball back over and Kirksville’s Logan Martin was fouled going in for a layup. Martin hit the pair, Chillicothe proceeded to turn the ball over again and then Jace Kent sealed the win for the Tigers with two more free throws with under 6 seconds to play, giving Kirksville the 45-41 come from behind victory.
Chillicothe falls to 14-9 on the season but will be back in action Tuesday night on the road against MEC opponent Cameron.
Chillicothe 12 27 33 41
Kirksville 10 19 31 45
Individual scoring:
Chillicothe – White 17, Langsten Johnson 7, Max Probasco 6, Kenyen Gannan 5, Soljier Allen 3, Cooper Robinson 3
Kirksville – Kent 10, White 9, Bennett Fraser 7, Martin 5, Cutler Lincoln 5, Carson Kelly 3, Carter Pinkerton 2, Connor Hall 2, Sam Snyder 2
