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KEARNEY — Chillicothe High School’s resurgent 2011-12 basketball Lady Hornets had their first opportunity to balance the books for an earlier loss yesterday afternoon. They got the job done, even if it didn’t happen easily.
A 60-51 loser to Liberty: North in the third-place game of the season-opening Savannah Invitational Tournament just over a month earlier, Chillicothe overcame a 4-point first quarter and an 8-point second-stanza deficit to overtake and doggedly hold off LNHS’ Lady Eagles 47-42 in a consolation-semifinal game of this week’s Bulldog Classic tournament at Kearney.
Getting a career-high 13 points and their only go-ahead baskets from their least-experienced starter, sophomore guard Mackenzie Barnett, the Lady Hornets completed a comeback from an 18-10 late-first-half hole by the 31⁄2-minute mark of the third quarter and never relinquished the lead, although they came close several times.
“We didn't have a lot of things go our way tonight, but the girls kept after it and never gave up!” stated CHS head coach Rachael Parkey.
By virtue of the victory, Chillicothe (8-6) assured itself of emerging from the tournament still above .500 for the season and earned a crack at the Kearney tourney’s consolation trophy tomorrow evening. The Lady Hornets will face Raymore-Peculiar in a 5 o’clock contest, hoping to come away with the first tourney hardware for a CHS girls’ hoops team since taking consolation in the 2008 Cameron tourney.
Raymore-Peculiar, where Parkey coached as an assistant for a couple of years before being hired to lead her alma mater’s program last year, opened the tournament very inauspiciously Monday, losing by 30 points to fifth-seeded St. Joseph: Benton. It came back to dispense of Excelsior Springs 59-23 right after the Lady Hornets’ semifinal triumph.
After advancing their lead to 35-28 at the end of the third quarter yesterday with a 12-3 close to the segment, the CHS girls managed only one field goal in the last stanza and went over five minutes in which they netted only three points. However, their defense and rebounding – unofficially they out-boarded Liberty: North 12-4 in the last frame – and the Lady Eagles’ own offensive difficulties kept them in front.
With about 2:10 remaining, Liberty: North’s Audrey Wood stole the ball and hurried downcourt for a layup which narrowed the score to 40-39, Chillicothe, but CHS’ Sarah Baldwin drained two free throws seconds later to triple that margin and, after the Lady Eagles failed to score and the Lady Hornets smoothly ran a lot of time off the clock, hit two more foul shots with 49 ticks left. That made it a 2-possession game.
An Erin Gilliland charity toss with 36 seconds to go moved the lead back to six and effectively made it a certainty Chillicothe would not lose in regulation time. Given that Liberty: North’s Dec. 2 win over it at Savannah came when the Lady Eagles scored the first 12 points of the overtime, that wasn’t necessarily that comforting a thought, however, especially when Hattie Zelenak hit Liberty: North’s only 3-point basket of the night with 27 seconds to go to cut the lead back to three.
Chillicothe calmly used up more clock, though, before Madison Williams was fouled with 11 seconds left. When she hit the first try, the victory was secure, but she added the second, as well, to make it a 5-point win.
While Chillicothe’s 17-8 scoring advantage in the third quarter put it over the top – and matched its entire first-half offensive production, its rally began to take shape in the final 80 seconds of the second frame.
With only three field goals and 10 total points to show for their first 141⁄2 minutes of effort, the Lady Hornets were behind by eight after LNHS freshman Mattie Ecklund hit the first shot she took – a “3”.
Some 50 seconds later, CHS missed another shot, but its most-experienced player, junior guard Williams, slipped in to collect the rebound and hit the stickback. From that small bit of hustle, big things would grow.
KEARNEY — Chillicothe High School’s resurgent 2011-12 basketball Lady Hornets had their first opportunity to balance the books for an earlier loss yesterday afternoon. They got the job done, even if it didn’t happen easily.
A 60-51 loser to Liberty: North in the third-place game of the season-opening Savannah Invitational Tournament just over a month earlier, Chillicothe overcame a 4-point first quarter and an 8-point second-stanza deficit to overtake and doggedly hold off LNHS’ Lady Eagles 47-42 in a consolation-semifinal game of this week’s Bulldog Classic tournament at Kearney.
Getting a career-high 13 points and their only go-ahead baskets from their least-experienced starter, sophomore guard Mackenzie Barnett, the Lady Hornets completed a comeback from an 18-10 late-first-half hole by the 31⁄2-minute mark of the third quarter and never relinquished the lead, although they came close several times.
“We didn't have a lot of things go our way tonight, but the girls kept after it and never gave up!” stated CHS head coach Rachael Parkey.
By virtue of the victory, Chillicothe (8-6) assured itself of emerging from the tournament still above .500 for the season and earned a crack at the Kearney tourney’s consolation trophy tomorrow evening. The Lady Hornets will face Raymore-Peculiar in a 5 o’clock contest, hoping to come away with the first tourney hardware for a CHS girls’ hoops team since taking consolation in the 2008 Cameron tourney.
Raymore-Peculiar, where Parkey coached as an assistant for a couple of years before being hired to lead her alma mater’s program last year, opened the tournament very inauspiciously Monday, losing by 30 points to fifth-seeded St. Joseph: Benton. It came back to dispense of Excelsior Springs 59-23 right after the Lady Hornets’ semifinal triumph.
After advancing their lead to 35-28 at the end of the third quarter yesterday with a 12-3 close to the segment, the CHS girls managed only one field goal in the last stanza and went over five minutes in which they netted only three points. However, their defense and rebounding – unofficially they out-boarded Liberty: North 12-4 in the last frame – and the Lady Eagles’ own offensive difficulties kept them in front.
With about 2:10 remaining, Liberty: North’s Audrey Wood stole the ball and hurried downcourt for a layup which narrowed the score to 40-39, Chillicothe, but CHS’ Sarah Baldwin drained two free throws seconds later to triple that margin and, after the Lady Eagles failed to score and the Lady Hornets smoothly ran a lot of time off the clock, hit two more foul shots with 49 ticks left. That made it a 2-possession game.
An Erin Gilliland charity toss with 36 seconds to go moved the lead back to six and effectively made it a certainty Chillicothe would not lose in regulation time. Given that Liberty: North’s Dec. 2 win over it at Savannah came when the Lady Eagles scored the first 12 points of the overtime, that wasn’t necessarily that comforting a thought, however, especially when Hattie Zelenak hit Liberty: North’s only 3-point basket of the night with 27 seconds to go to cut the lead back to three.
Chillicothe calmly used up more clock, though, before Madison Williams was fouled with 11 seconds left. When she hit the first try, the victory was secure, but she added the second, as well, to make it a 5-point win.
While Chillicothe’s 17-8 scoring advantage in the third quarter put it over the top – and matched its entire first-half offensive production, its rally began to take shape in the final 80 seconds of the second frame.
With only three field goals and 10 total points to show for their first 141⁄2 minutes of effort, the Lady Hornets were behind by eight after LNHS freshman Mattie Ecklund hit the first shot she took – a “3”.
Some 50 seconds later, CHS missed another shot, but its most-experienced player, junior guard Williams, slipped in to collect the rebound and hit the stickback. From that small bit of hustle, big things would grow.
