By Matt Turer — mturer@ky3.com
@MattTurer
Walnut Grove, Mo. — Top-seed Walnut Grove and 2-seed Hartville are bound for the Walnut Grove Holiday Class Tournament semifinals after dominant wins on Thursday night. Recaps of both games can be found below.
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Walnut Grove defense headlines quarterfinal win over Verona
Walnut Grove leaned on a dominant defensive effort to build a 22-point halftime lead and cruise past 8-seed Verona into the Walnut Grove Holiday Classic Tournament semifinals with a 53-25 win Thursday night.
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Raylie Hejna led the Tigers (8-1) with 19 points and leading scorer Bayley Harman finished with 14, but it was sophomore Grace McPhail’s 14-point night that had Walnut Grove head coach Rory Henry talking.
“It was awesome,” Henry said of McPhail’s night. “That’s what we’ve been asking of her for a while now. We know her potential and what she’s capable of, and we’ve been waiting for her to break out and do those types of things [she did tonight].”
With Verona’s defensive focus on Harman and her 25.3 points per game, McPhail was left with space and took advantage, going for 10 points in the first half.
“We see it in practice every day,” Henry said. “I’m really proud of her and the way she came out, and we need that going forward. We have a ton of confidence in her.”
Walnut Grove got a pair of first-half three-pointers from Taylor Dodson, who finished with six points.
“We could’ve done a little more offensively, but when Bayley struggled a bit earlier, we had other people that picked her up, and that was big,” Henry said. “That’s what we need. To be more multi-dimensional. We showed a lot of people tonight that we’re more than just two players.”
Verona (4-5) managed only two first-quarter points and trailed 29-7 at the half. That deficit got as bad as 36 points in the third quarter.
“Verona is a good team,” Henry said. “I think that was the best I’ve seen us play defensively. Holding them to seven points in the first half was huge. I was really proud of our defensive effort.”
Coming into Thursday, Verona had been averaging 52 points per game. Twilah Carrasquillo was the only Wildcat to reach double figures, finishing with 10 points.
Top-seed Walnut Grove will face 5-seed Pierce City (6-2) in the semifinals on Dec. 27.
FINAL: Walnut Grove 53, Verona 25
Verona 2 5 10 8 – 25
Walnut Grove 15 14 17 7 – 53
Verona- Twilah Carrasquillo 10, Nicole Stephenson 6, Rita Castillo 4, Madison Shrum 3, Rachel Baker 2
Walnut Grove- Raylie Hejna 19, Grace McPhail 14, Bayley Harman 14, Taylor Dodson 6
Hartville uses big first half to get past Hermitage
With a confident Hermitage team on the other end, it was Hartville that seized Thursday night’s quarterfinal stage. The Lady Eagles reminded everyone why they began the season ranked No. 2 in Class 2, scoring 42 first-half points and getting contributions from 10 different players in a 71-46 win.
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Two-seed Hartville (8-3) was paced by Cheyanne Mullenix, who finished with 12 points. Skylar Divine and Ally Coltrane both scored 10.
Hermitage (7-2) attempted 26 free throws in the first half and finished the game 19-34 from the line but still trailed 42-23 at halftime and 60-34 through three quarters. Hartville finished 14-26 from the stripe.
Hermitage had only been held under 50 points once this season—a 45-22 win over Lakeland. The Lady Hornets could never get their transition game going and had trouble breaking Hartville’s full-court press.
“[The press] is a staple of ours,” Hartville head coach Mike Percival said. “We’re not real big (no Lady Eagle stands taller than 5’7”), so you’ve got to do what you’ve got to do.”
Hermitage leading scorer Sadi Hostettler (16.1 PPG) third-leading scorer Sheridan Corum (11.9 PPG) were both held to seven points. Freshman Makayla Hostettler (13.6 PPG) managed 14 points and was the only Hornet in double digits.
“We beat a good team, but we’ve got to keep trucking. Got to keep climbing that staircase,” Percival said.
Hartville will faced 6-seed Omaha, Ark. (13-6) in the semifinals on Dec. 27.
FINAL: Hartville 71, Hermitage 46
Hermitage 9 14 11 12 – 46
Hartville 19 23 18 11 – 71
Hermitage- Makayla Hostettler 14, Anna Ginnings 8, Sheridan Corum 7, Sadi Hostettler 7, Alyssa Owens 6, Lindsey Smith 4
Hartville- Cheyanne Mullenix 12, Skylar Divine 10, Ally Coltrane 10, Mallory Hardcastle 9, Sadie Chisum 7, Grace Still 7, Ashlynne Dickson 6, Grace Culver 4, Emily Chisum 4, Katie Still 2
