Girls basketball

Seniors almost carry Lady Trojans to victory, lose 52-47 to Cairo

Going into Tuesday night, the Community R-6 girls had won five straight conference titles and tried hard to make it six.

Community R-6 girls, boys vs Cairo Photo Gallery

The Lady Trojans (20-5, 8-2 CAC) were as close as two points with less than a minute left against Class 2 No. 3 Cairo  (22-3, 9-0 CAC), who stayed undefeated in conference and secured a title after defeating Community 52-47 in Laddonia. Seniors Sarah Angel, Kayla Jett and Olivia Kuda combined for 38 Lady Trojan points.

“This matchup started about five years ago as we’ve been battling conference titles against Cairo  for the last five years,” head coach Bob Curtis said. “Over there (in a 50-24 loss in Cairo), they really walked away in the fourth quarter. Tonight, it didn’t happen. We stayed right there. I wished they would’ve pulled it out for them and for my seniors, but the effort was there.”

Curtis said each of his seniors had standout performances against “probably the best team we’ve played this year,” which is encouraging going into districts despite the game being a loss. Angel led with 17 points, five assists and two 3-pointers, Jett followed with 13 points and four 3-pointers, and Olivia Kuda had eight points and 10 rebounds.

Centralia 53 Southern Boone 38 in Ashland

Paris 37 Brashear 28 in Brashear

Boys basketball

Trojans fall to Cairo’s depth in 78-38 loss

The Community R-6 boys had a bumpy end to their regular season but hope more positivity is in the near future.

On Tuesday at home, the Trojans lost their final game before districts to Central Activities Conference foe Cairo 78-38 as they struggled all night long with Cairo’s defensive pressure and varied scoring. The Bearcats (16-9, 8-1 CAC) had four finish in double figures and had nine score points.

Head coach Tad Shotten said Community’s second game against Cairo displayed how much progress the program still needs to make despite improving from 8-18 and 2-8 overall and conference records to 13-13 and 5-5 this season.

“Even though we’re a varsity team, we’re still learning,” Shotten said. “We still have some really raw guys that have only really played two years of competitive basketball. The lack of experience shows and the lack of depth for sure hurts us.”

Fulton 73 Mexico 71 in Fulton

North Callaway 70 Mark Twain 62 in Kingdom City. Sam Pezold led North Callaway with 21 points

Southern Boone 73 Centralia 44 in Ashland

Look for the full stories in the Saturday, Feb. 18, 2023, edition of the Mexico Ledger.