The Chillicothe Lady Hornets hosted Marceline on Wednesday night, in a game that featured two teams with sparkling records. Marceline as a Class 2 team was prepared to face some tougher competition and entered with a 14-3 record against the 13-1 Lady Hornets who were riding a five game win streak since Christmas.
Chillicothe’s pressure was a problem early for the Lady Tigers, Marceline committed seven first quarter turnovers and Chillicothe opened up a 16-6 advantage entering the 2nd quarter. Marceline settled into the game and Ella Moseley hit some timely shots for the Lady Tigers, scoring 10 first half points, and 14 for the game. Chillicothe got major contributions from Lyla Beetsma who had 14 in the first half, and Chillicothe finished the first half with a flurry, scoring the final five points before the break extending the lead to 33-17.
Both teams played sticky defense in the 3rd quarter as each side managed just six points. Chillicothe maintained the 16 point advantage going into the 4th quarter. Marceline made a push to cut the deficit to 12, but the Lady Hornets behind Beetsma with 20 points and 9 rebounds along with Lexy Smith scoring 11, kept Marceline from threatening. Chillicothe won 51-34 and are now 14-1 on the year.
The Lady Hornets faced a test against the Lady Tigers and responded well. Chillicothe has won nine of their 14 games by twenty points or more, but never lead by that significant a margin against a talented Marceline side. Chillicothe will have more tough tests upcoming when playing in the Grain Valley Tournament next week, starting on Monday against Barstow.
Chillicothe 16 33 39 51
Marceline 6 17 23 34
Individual scoring:
Chillicothe – Beetsma 20, Smith 11, Lydia Bonderer 9, Emerson Staton 6, Maicee Albrecht 5
Marceline – Moseley 14, Whitney Pennington 6, Emerald Bloss 6, Gentry Burns 6, Sophie Lockwood 2