The Chillicothe Lady Hornets have been battling a difficult stretch of games recently that continued on Thursday night. The Lady Hornets entered at 18-5 on the season but had won just two of their last six games. Another tough challenge stood in Chillicothe’s way, the Kirksville Lady Tigers at 20-3.
The Lady Hornets intensity was impeccable to start, leading early 5-0 and a 15-9 edge at the end of the first quarter. Chillicothe forced Kirksville into 11 first half turnovers and the Lady Hornets capitalized down low, Lyla Beetsma scored 9 first half points, while Emerson Staton added 8, and both forwards finished in double figures for the game.
The Lady Hornets started the 3rd quarter just as strong as the first, pushing the lead out to 36-17. Eventually, Kirksville adjusted to the speed and aggressiveness of Chillicothe in the 2nd half to resemble the 20 win team on the season, but the Lady Hornets prevented Kirksville from closing the gap, leading by double figures the entire 2nd half.
It was a great performance from the Lady Hornets in all aspects, soundly defeating a quality team 47-37, behind an 18 point output from Beetsma and 10 each from Staton and Lydia Bonderer. The Chillicothe Lady Hornets are now 19-5 and will host Cameron on Tuesday.
Chillicothe 15 28 39 47
Kirksville 9 16 23 37
Individual scoring:
Chillicothe – Beetsma 18, Staton 10, Bonderer 10, Lexy Smith 6, Ava Leamer 3
Kirksville – Eva Danielson 13, Brynn Shahan 10, Macey Lehmann 8, Megan Kinney 4, Madelyn Sampson 2