The Chillicothe Lady Hornets were taking on the host team in the semifinals of the Savannah Tournament on Wednesday night. About 5 minutes into the game Coach Darren Smith was not happy with the way his team was handling the basketball so he took a timeout to settle his team down. Inside the the final minute of the 1st quarter with the Lady Hornets trailing the Savannah Savages 7-8, Delanie Kieffer found teammate Kayanna Cranmer open for three, Cranmer buried the shot to take a 10-8 lead into the quarter break and the Lady Hornets never looked back from there. Jolie Bonderer poured in 8 2nd quarter points and Chillicothe held a 27-14 halftime advantage.
In the 2nd half, for the 2nd straight game in this tournament, Chillicothe held their opponent to less than 10 points. The defense was suffocating as Savannah only made one field goal the entire half. The Lady Hornets pulled away to win 51-21 in a game where they forced more turnovers than allowed points.
Chillicothe is now 3-0 on the season and will face their toughest test to date on Friday night against Smithville in the tournament championship. Smithville has defeated Benton and Maryville to advance to the finals. The 95th annual Savannah Tournament Championship game is scheduled for 7 pm Friday.
Chillicothe 10 27 42 51
Savannah 8 14 18 21
Individual scoring:
Chillicothe – Bonderer 15, Cranmer 12, Liz Oliver 9, Hope Donoho 8, Lyla Beetsma 3, Emerson Staton 2, Delanie Kieffer 1, Ava Leamer 1
Savannah – Mylee Schrick 14, Rhyan Schrick 4, Regan Bauer 3