Boys basketball

Mexico 48 Hermann 44 in Montgomery tournament semifinals

For the third straight year, Mexico defeated Hermann in the Montgomery tournament semifinals and will play in the championship game at 6 p.m. Saturday following a 48-44 win on Thursday. The Bulldogs defend their title against Montgomery County in a rematch from last year. Jaydon Eldridge led with 18 points, Kaden Benne followed with 11 points and three steals, and Charlie Fisher had 10 points and four asstists. Mexico had 17 points off turnovers and hit 14 free throws (14-of-25) compared to 3-of-7 from Hermann.

Mexico beat New Haven 83-23 in the first round Tuesday, leading 46-13 at halftime. Jaydon Eldridge led with 20 points against Hermann along with seven rebounds and three steals, PJ Perkins had 12 points, seven assists and three steals, and Charlie Fisher had 10 points and four assists. Mexico had 40 points off turnovers and shot 50 percent from the field.

Boonville 61 Centralia 52 in Centralia

Centralia went 1-2 in its first three games at home this season before hosting the Centralia Invitational next week. The Panthers lost to Boonville on Thursday after defeating North Callaway 62-38 on Tuesday. Anthony Ford led with 22 points -- 20 in the first half -- against North Callaway and Logan Rosenfelder had 11 points and three 3-pointers.

Marion County 57 Community R-6 36 in Philadelphia

On Tuesday, Community lost its fifth straight game to begin the season but lost by its closest margin before a varsity doubleheader starting at 6 p.m. tonight at Mark Twain.

Girls basketball

Clopton 56 Mexico 35 in Montgomery tournament semifinals

Mexico will play for third place on Saturday against host Montgomery County after losing to No. 1 seed Clopton on Wednesday. Claire Hudson led with 12 points, and Scottie Smith, Hannah Loyd and Grace Hudson each had six points.

"We had a lot of silly mistakes and turnovers that they were able to capitalize on," head coach Makenzie Mudd said. "In the first half, we did a good job of recovering from our mistakes, but in the second half we did not do as good of a job and that dug us into a hole that we could not come back from."

The Lady Bulldogs defeated New Haven 48-36 in the first round Monday. Claire Hudson led with 17 points and had fve 3-pointers at halftime, Grace Hudson followed with 12 points and Miller had seven points.

"We did a good job of adjusting to New Haven's defense and finding some solid scoring opportunities," Mudd said. "We were able to score a lot of transition points and capitalize on turnovers to maintain a lead throughout the game. It was a good game of teamwork to create opportunities for each other."

Centralia  51 Southern Boone 33 in Ashland

Centralia won its third straight game to start the season by winning its road opener against Southern Boone. Braylin Brunkhorst led with 20 points and Ealynne Bostick had 11 points. Brunkhorst led the Lady Panthers in scoring in Tuesday night's home win against North Callaway with 28 points and Ryenn Gordon had 10 points. Livia Hartley led North Callaway that night with nine points.

Marion County 46 Community R-6 43 in Philadelphia

Community R-6 lost its second game this season by four points or less (3-2 record overall) after the Lady Trojans led for 29 and a half minutes. They scored five points in the third quarter and missed 11 free throws -- six in the final four minutes of the game -- and Marion County capitalized off a turnover Community produced by dribbling into traffic. Peyton Beamer led Community with 21 points and three steals, and Jocelyn Curtis had 13 points and seven rebounds.

"We are working on our turnovers and free-throw  percentage, which are keys to our success.," head coach Bob Curtis said. "Junior standouts Peyton Beamer and Jocelyn Curtis combined for 34 of the teams 43.  They consistently showed this kind of offensive output over the summer so we are hoping that becomes the norm over the coming months. "

Silex 52 North Callaway 42 in North Callaway

North Callaway lost its second straight game on Thursday with a 52-42 defeat in the Eastern Missouri Conference opener against Silex. The Ladybirds played in their gym since Silex's was out of commission. North Callaway's offense was slow to start, trailing 28-9 at halftime. Lakyn Hartley led the Ladybirds with 17 points, five assists and four steals, Sophie Olsson had nine points and Natalie Shryock had eight points.

Monroe City 42 Paris 31 in Paris

Paris lost its first game after going 4-0 this season. Monroe City is still undefeated at 3-0 after holding the Lady Coyotes to 28 percent shooting and using 16 assists to score. Reese Sutton led Paris with 13 points, and Melanie Moore followed with 11 points.

Boys wrestling

North Callaway 44 Boonville 30, North Callaway 42 Versailles 35 in Versailes meet

Four North Callaway wrestlers each won two matches on Thursday night in Versailles. Lucas Riecke won by pinfall twice at 120 pounds, Collin Moore won by pinfall and a 10-3 decision at 150 pounds, Wyatt Haden won by pinfall twice at 165 pounds, and Ben Haubner won by 15-0 technical fall and pinfall at 175 pounds. 

Missouri Military Academy 60 Wright City 14, MMA 60 South Callaway 15, MMA 54 Winfield 22 in Wright City quad

Missouri Military Academy went 3-0 on Thursday night in Wright City after going 3-0 in duals at St. Francis Borgia on Tuesday, defeating Maplewood-Richmond Heights 54-15, St. Francis Borgia 60-17 and Veritas Christian 48-33. In the Wright City quad, Deonte Kerns at 126 pounds, Luis Sass at 157 and Nathaniel Summers at 285 are each 6-0 to start the season while Tyler Isbell is 3-0 at 132. 

Girls wrestling

Versailles 36 North Callaway 18, Boonville 24 North Callaway 12 in Versailles meet

Brooke Giboney at 110 pounds, Ella Baker at 130 and Elka Endres at 135 each picked up a victory on Thursday in Versailles, each by pinfall over Versailles opponents.