Community R-6 girls defeat Christian Fellowship 59-46 in inaugural meeting

The Community R-6 girls conquered the unknown on Friday night.

Community R-6 Basketball Opening Night Photo Gallery

It wasn’t unknown just because it was a new season and new roster for the Lady Trojans, but they won their season opener at home 59-46 against Christian Fellowship, a religious private school that they’ve never played before. Aaliyah Welch made herself known to the Lady Knights by leading the floor with career-highs of 19 points and 13 rebounds. 

Head coach Bob Curtis said Community was in an interesting position from the opening tipoff this year. Chamois, who played the boys later in the evening, didn’t have enough for a girls team so the Lady Trojans needed another opponent. It turns out Christian Fellowship — who plays schools in MSHSAA and the Missouri Christian Schools Athletics Association — needed another opponent after it had to drop a game against Chamois, setting up a scouting challenge for Community.

"The first half was extremely difficult," head coach Bob Curtis said. "(Brooke Grathwohl) and (Kylie Babich) are their best players. It took us about 15 minutes to figure out (Grathwohl) and (Babich) are who we need to put our best defenders on. Until halftime, we were still learning about Christian Fellowship."

Grathwohl finished with 18 points to lead the Lady Knights while Kylie Babich had eight points. In the second half, Grathwohl scored seven points in the fourth quarter after being shut out in the third, and Babich had only one 3-pointer in the second half.

After holding on to a 32-27 lead at halftime, Community outscored Christian Fellowship 14-4 in the third quarter and took its first double-digit lead at 40-29 with about three minutes left in the third quarter. That bucket was an offensive putback by Welch, who seemed to grow stronger as the game progressed. 

Welch went into halftime with six points but then showed her strength inside with six points in the third quarter and then seven in the fourth quarter. She was one of several reliable players the Lady Trojans had inside as Kylie Brooks also finished with a double-double of 11 points and 11 rebounds, Brooklynn Glasgow had 11 points and seven rebounds, Alyssa Beamer added eight points and Jocelyn Curtis had six rebounds and three blocks off the bench.

“We’re going to have outrebound teams, and I think we have the size to do that,” Curtis said. “They were quicker to the ball for a little while. When we quit taking perimeter shots in the third quarter and got stuff at the rim is when we got the lead up to 15.”

The junior Welch is entering her first season as a regular starter after having some earlier in her career. Curtis liked Welch’s positioning all night when she went for rebounds.

Welch said she didn’t know how many points or rebounds she had during or after the game and was all smiles when she learned she had set new career-highs. She said she was motivated to play well for her teammates even with the nerves that come with a first game against an unknown opponent.

“It was different because we usually scout teams,” Welch said. “Coming into this game, we didn’t know what to expect, but we just came out and played our best.”

“She got a little tired and actually wasn’t so wound up,” Curtis said. “The first game, a lot of times, everybody’s so excited to play. She calmed down as she got worn down a little bit and used her body well. There were several shots then went up, she boxed out, got a board and got a stick back. That’s what she did extremely well in the second half.”

Curtis said Community will be more knowledgeable about the rest of the opponents on its schedule and has to keep something in mind to have another good season.

“We didn’t know who their best kids were, but if we do know, we don’t want their best kids to combine for 26,” Curtis said. “We’re going to have to guard people because we’re not going to score 59 every night.”

Community R-6 boys lose 64-29 to Chamois in slow start

The Community R-6 boys wanted a better start on Friday night.

The Trojans hope to have a better effort in their next games after losing 64-29 at home to Chamois, a team they defeated 54-31 a year ago. Community couldn’t get going as it trailed the Pirates 14-4 after the first quarter and then 33-1 at halftime and 46-20 after the third quarter. 

Head coach Kody Asquith said it was a down night all around as the offense struggled to produce points because of so many turnovers and the defense faltered when guarding Chamois players like Jaxon Wuelling and Dawson Brandt, who finished with 21 and 18 points, respectively. Asquith, who was promoted this season from his assistant position, is confident the Trojans are a much better team than that and will need early adjustments.

"We need to go back to the fundamentals on defense and start from there to build up," Asquith said. "It's the same thing on offense — start with the small things and add in more complex things as we get going."

Asquith said Chamois had “lockdown” defense all night to make this Pirates team more competitive than they were a year ago against the Trojans. Even though he said Community was prepared, he said his kids still made some mistakes on offense that can’t continue.

On several possessions, the Trojans weren’t able to attempt a shot because they tried to set up a scoring opportunity, only for a pass to be thrown off-target out of bounds or into a Chamois player’s hands.

“Somehow, that got in our head tonight,” Asquith said. “The turnovers killed us all night. We missed passes, we misread passes and we misread where we’re supposed to go on offense.”

Mason Carroll led the Trojans with 10 points, five rebounds, two blocks and two steals; Aaron Carter followed with five points and three rebounds; Clayton Eikel had five points; and Brant Cope finished with four points and six rebounds. 

The Trojans couldn’t collect many rebounds when Chamois was flying around on the offensive and defensive glass. Asquith said those areas and playing better fundamental defense need attention as Friday night could be bogged down by negatives or it could be turned into positive results the rest of the season.

“On a positive note, it was a good eye-opener of what I have to do in creating a practice plan (for our next game),” Asquith said. “We all have those nights, but it just so happened to be our first night of the year, which is unfortunate. We could only go up from here.”

Mexico boys defense sharp from opening tip in 74-48 win vs St. James

The Mexico boys looked good early to start the season.

The Bulldogs won 74-48 on Saturday morning against St. James (0-1) in the Vienna Shootout, maintaining control throughout thanks to scoring 34 points off 47 turnovers.

Head coach Darren Pappas said the defense was great early in Mexico’s opening game, coming away with 16 steals and helping the Bulldogs (1-0) take a 19-11 lead after the first quarter and 41-22 at halftime. He said they will have to be better rebounding in its next game against Wellsville-Middletown at 6 p.m. Tuesday to start the Montgomery County Invitational Tournament.

“I thought we did a good job of forcing some turnovers and then being able to capitalize off those turnovers,” Pappas said. “The one area we could improve on is rebounding because we got beat on the offensive glass and the defensive glass and 32-24 overall.”

PJ Perkins led in scoring with 24 points on 11-of-13 shooting along with four rebounds; DJ Long had 14 points, 11 assists and four steals; Jaydon Eldridge finished with 11 points, four steals and two blocks; and Charlie Fisher had nine points.

Pappas said the Bulldogs did well against the zone defense by St. James as he remembers two possessions where they passed the ball five to six times without dribbling before finding an open cut to the basket.

Mexico girls lose 42-35 after Owensville comeback

The Mexico girls held Owensville back most of their opening game Saturday but couldn’t hold the deluge of 3-pointers.

The Lady Bulldogs led 21-15 at halftime  in the Bluefish Shootout in Rolla before Owensville tied the game at 27 going into the fourth quarter and then won the fourth quarter 15-8 for Mexico to lose 42-35. 

First-year head coach Makenzie Mudd said Mexico (0-1) did great holding the strong shooting Owensville (1-0) down through most of the game but allowed some 3-pointers late to fall short.

“They are a strong shooting team and we were active and aggressive, preventing them from being comfortable at the 3-point line,” Mudd said. “We went back and forth throughout the game, but in the second half, they found some opportunities to score and hit some big 3-pointers to push them ahead of us.”

Claire Hudson led Mexico with nine points and six rebounds, and Jo Thurman followed with eight points and five assists.

“I am so proud of this team and how well they worked together and used what the defense gave them to find great scoring opportunities,” Mudd said. “If we can keep playing this way, it will be such a fun season.”

Mexico hosted Silex on Tuesday before opening the Montgomery County Invitational Tournament at 6 p.m. Monday against Hermann.

Van-Far boys shape up defense in 57-36 win at Cairo

The Van-Far boys thought they would deal with some fatigue early this season.

That didn’t prevent the Indians from winning their home opener 57-36 at Cairo (0-1) on Monday. They held the team that eliminated them last year in districts to 12 points in the second half and forced 17 turnovers for 18 points in the game.

Head coach Pat Connaway said many of his players also play football and just wrapped up a 6-5 season that ended not even two weeks ago. Because of that, after Van-Far (1-0) shot ahead 18-9 in the first quarter thanks to three Pacey Reading 3-pointers, the Indians were tired and carried a 29-24 lead into halftime.

“Tired legs started settling in and we quit pushing the tempo and got a little lazy on defense,” Connaway said. “At half, we talked about being mentally tough and ‘tired’ only being a mindset.  Because of our great football season, I have only had the kids for seven days so we have a lot of conditioning and work to do before we get where we want to be.”

Nikos Connaway led Van-Far with 22 points, 11 rebounds and three steals; Pacey Reading finished with 15 points; Carter Jennings finished with eight points and 10 rebounds; and Gage Gibson had three steals.

The Indians still outrebounded Cairo 36-28 and won in the paint 38-20.

In the game prior, the girls lost 81-28 to Cairo.

Van-Far plays its Eastern Missouri Conference opener at 7 p.m. Nov. 30 at Louisiana, with the Lady Indians playing first at 5:30 p.m.

McCart sinks late free throws for Missouri Military Academy 49-47 win at Silex

Missouri Military Academy needed the full 32 minutes on Friday.

After trailing 24-16 at halftime and by 14 points early in the third quarter, MMA completed its comeback to open the season by winning 49-47 at Silex. Josh McCart finished with 15 points after knocking down two free throws with two-tenths of a second left.

McCart was fouled with less than a second remaining in the game to earn the winning opportunity. Before that, though, head coach Roger Siwak said it took a strong team effort to even have a chance at winning at Silex (0-1) — where MMA (1-0) opened last season with a close 71-66 victory.

“I’m proud of our work and refusal to give up when we got down,” Siwak said. “We are learning to work together and learning the system. Defense kept us in the game.”

Gihana Favour Nziza led the Colonels with 16 points, followed by McCart’s 15 and Nathan Dempsey’s 14.

Junior varsity lost 28-18.

MMA play at Sunnydale Adventist Academy in Centralia at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday.

Centralia boys double up Mark Twain 65-32

The Centralia boys had a convincing win to tip off the season.

The Panthers won 65-32 at Mark Twain (0-1) on Friday after leading 43-20 at halftime.

Cullen Bennett led Centralia (1-0) with 16 points and six rebounds, Logan Rosenfelder followed with 13 points and five assists, Travis Brooks had nine points and two steals, and Elliott McCoy finished with eight points.

Centralia played at School of the Osage at 8 p.m. Tuesday.

Lady Panthers unable to make up ground in 62-54 loss at California

The Centralia girls began the season with a loss after staying in the game.

The Lady Panthers lost 62-54 at California (1-0) after trailing 31-27 at halftime.

Centralia (0-1) was led by Morgan Ross as she finished with 21 points, five rebounds and two steals. Raegan Anderson scored 15 points on 3-pointers, hitting 5-for-10 from there. Braylin Brunkhorst had 12 points, nine rebounds, three steals and three assists.

The Lady Panthers play at North Callaway at 6 p.m. Tuesday.

Paris girls defeat Marion County 34-31 with dose of future

The Paris girls just had enough to win their opening game on Nov. 17.

The Lady Coyotes won 34-31 at Marion County (0-1), outscoring the Lady Mustangs 11-8 in the fourth quarter. They were led by a combined 24 points by freshman Melanie Moore and sophomore Reese Sutton.

Moore led the floor with 14 points and finished with seven rebounds, four assists and two steals. Sutton had 10 points, eight rebounds and two assists. 

The duo helped Paris (1-0) gain the edge in offensive rebounds at 11-5 and steals at 12-7.

The boys lost 70-44 in the game afterward.

Paris lost its home opener 40-32 on Tuesday against Mark Twain. The Lady Coyotes begin the 99th annual Monroe City Basketball Tournament at 6 p.m. Dec. 4 against the host Lady Panthers (0-1) in the high school gym.

Coyotes give away too many points in 70-44 loss at Marion County, overcome late deficit in 70-68 victory against Mark Twain

The Paris boys hope to hold onto the basketball in the future.

The Coyotes lost their season opener on Nov. 17 at Marion County 70-44 after finishing with 22 turnovers that led to 31 Marion County points and 23 transition points for the Mustangs. They then won their home opener 70-68 on Tuesday against Mark Twain after outscoring the Tigers 21-16 in the fourth quarter.

Against Marion County, Paris trailed 15-10 after the first quarter, but the deficit really grew in the second quarter. The Coyotes were down 39-22 at halftime.

Walter Rucker led Paris with 18 points and two 3-pointers, Cayden Poddany followed with 10 points, Brad Skinner finished with seven points, Brady Shivers pulled down seven rebounds, and Colton Kendrick had seven rebounds and six assists.

Joey Lagamann was the main threat for Marion County (1-0), scoring 25 points and finishing with seven rebounds, five assists and two steals. Wyatt Goldringer followed with 18 points and three steals.

Paris (1-1) turned the ball over 24 times against Mark Twain (0-2) but forced 25 turnovers to match the Tigers' 24 points off turnovers. The Coyotes shot 52 percent from the floor and were 15-of-31 from the free-throw line thanks to 29 Mark Twain personal fouls.

The Coyotes trailed 41-30 at halftime but made progress by outscoring the Tigers 19-11 in the third quarter.

For the second straight game, Walter Rucker led Paris with 21 points and also had five steals and two blocks. Cayden Poddany followed with 11 points and two steals, Colton Kendrick had nine points, 10 rebounds and seven assists, and Evin Reichmann finished with eight points and eight rebounds.

Mark Twain had three score in double figures, including Aydan Dye with 20 points, Sam Northcutt with 18 and Quin Eckler with 13.

Paris begins the 99th annual Monroe City Basketball Tournament at 7:30 p.m. Dec. 5 against the host Panthers (1-0) in the high school gym.

Find basketball stories in print this week in either the Wednesday or Saturday editions. Season previews printed in the Wednesday edition.