Class 4 & 5 Quarterfinal Report

CLASS 4

At Hammons Student Center, Springfield

• Girls – Webb City 57, St. James 36
  • Last year, the key to beating Webb City was to beat their press and stop Kaitlin Jaeger.  But as Webb City displayed Saturday against St. James, even is you do hold Jaeger down this year, you’re still likely to get smoked.  Balanced scoring and speed by the bucketful carried the Lady Cardinals to the win at HSC.  St. James hung around early but a 17-2 Webb run gave them an 18 point lead in the second quarter.  St. James used solid free throw shooting to stay close, and pulled with 6 in the third before a 12-4 run by the Lady Cardinals keyed by a Kyndal Clark 3 pointer removed any more suspense.  Haily Roderique lead the way with 14, with Breanna Baker and Clark both scoring 12.
• Boys – Republic 54, Bolivar 52
  • Bolivar’s Preston Guiot and Republic’s Kevin Stander end held up their end in this clash with Guiot leading all scores with 21 and Stander netting 18.  But in a game in which the biggest lead was 6 points, it was the lesser known players that turned it into a classic.  Dalton Kelley scored 18 points in the game for Bolivar including 12 in the second half.  He seemed to be the answer every time Republic seemed ready to open up a lead.  Nick Yocum hit 3 after 3 for Republic answering seemingly every Bolivar run.  But with the score tied at 52, Republic’s Josh Morrow stole the show, grabbing a Stander miss and banking in the game winner with 1.4 seconds left.  Bolivar had one chance left but the inbounds pass was deflected into the air and Republic moves on to their third final four and first since 1980.

CLASS 5

At Missouri S & T, Rolla

• Girls – Kickapoo 41, Rock Bridge 24
  • One thing you can count on the Lady Chiefs for is good defense.  But yesterday, their D was great as they forced 18 turnovers and held Rock Bridge to 27 percent shooting.  The Lady Bruins only shot 3 of 21 in the first half as they trailed by 9 heading into the fourth quarter.  And they would never get any closer than 6 against a determined Lady Chief defense that was a brick wall.  Annie Armstrong lead the way with 14 for Kickapoo with Jordan Graham chipping in 10.  They move onto their first final four since 2005 and 11th appearance overall.
• Boys – Hillcrest 60, Holt 48
  • The Hornets high-flying dunks and high-powered scoring has garnered the most attention this year.  But they showed that they can play strong fundamental basketball too as they hit clutch free throws down the stretch to close the door on any chance of a comeback from Holt.  Up 27-12 at the half, Hillcrest saw Holt climb back within 2 in the third before getting the lead back to 6 entering the fourth.  The Hornets opened up the final frame with a 6-0 run and the free throw contest was on.  Taylor Sade and Trey Starks combined to hit 18 of 19 to seal their 11th straight win.  Starks lead the scoring with 22 for Hillcrest.  Doriel Green got 17, and Sade 12.  The Hornets make their second final four with their only other appearance coming in their 1984 state title run.