By Dana Harding (For OzarksSportsZone.com)
FAIR GROVE, MO – If anyone cared to question Brooke Daniels’ value to Fair Grove’s basketball program, those concerns were put to rest Saturday afternoon.
And then some.
The senior all-state honoree hit eight-straight free throws late in the fourth quarter to seal a 62-52 victory over Logan Rogersville in the Fair Grove Invitational Tournament championship.
Daniels finished with a team-high 14 points.
“There’s not a better one around than Brooke Daniels – plain and simple,” said Fair Grove head coach Gary Greene. “She’s as good as there is, and so you would expect that out of her. I expect that out of her, her teammates expect that out of her and, most importantly, she expects that out of herself. So it doesn’t surprise me when she steps up and does what great players do.”
The defending state champions jumped out to an early lead, thanks in part to a 14-4 run in the first quarter.
Seniors Ashton Bell (11 points) and Abbey Green (7 points) helped propel the Eagles to the early lead.
While Fair Grove set the tone early, Rogersville answered with an effective perimeter game.
A quintet of 3-pointers from Eden Kibby, Hailey Buckman, Addison Cleghorn and Sidney Holland trimmed the deficit to 6 late in the second quarter; however, the Eagles would answer.
With 30 seconds left in the half, a Sage Crowly 3-pointer ended the Rogersville rally and sent Fair Grove into the locker room with a 32-23 lead.
The Eagles stretched the lead to as many as 20 in the third quarter, but Rogersville would not go away easily.
CLICK HERE FOR PHOTOS OF THE GAME
Propelled by Buckman’s relentless attacks at the basket, the Wildcats rallied late in the fourth quarter.
The 6-foot junior guard led all scorers with 18 points.
“Give [Rogersville] credit,” Greene said. “They came after us in the second half and decided they didn’t want to get blown out playing for a first-place trophy. They came out and challenged us, and we didn’t respond very well. They’re a good team, they’re big and they shoot it well. They’re going to be scary.”
A Buckman put-back with 1:20 remaining cut the lead to 55-50; however, Rogersville would get no closer, as Daniel’s free-throw heroics quelled the rally and sealed the Fair Grove win.
“I think we realized we were turning the ball over way too much,” Daniels said. “Yeah, they were being aggressive, but I don’t think we were being aggressive enough – cutting into the middle of the press and then getting each other open setting screens. We just weren’t doing that, so we knew we had to switch it up a little bit.”
It’s no secret this Eagles senior class is battle tested. Daniels, Bell, Green, Shea Skouby and Emily Stallings have stocked the Fair Grove trophy case in the past two seasons thanks to back-to-back state championships in both volleyball and basketball.
While the Eagles are less than one month removed from a 41-0 volleyball campaign, Daniels believes the quick transition is a huge benefit for the senior multisport group.
“Honestly, I think the transition is good for us girls coming from volleyball and getting to play together there,” Daniels said. “Coming into basketball, we still have that chemistry. Even though we’re not in basketball shape at the beginning of the season, I think we get there and push each other.”
For Rogersville and head coach Cory Watts, the team’s resilient nature during a significant early-season challenge should pay big dividends down the road.
“I’m just proud they didn’t let go of the rope,” Watts said. “It would have been easy – I think we were down 20 – to just let it go and give up, but we cut it all the way back to five and then put some pressure on them. I was happy with that, and that’s obviously a great team over there. A couple of things we need to clean up, but I think we’ll be good this year.”
Up next for Fair Grove (3-0) is a trip to Springfield on Thursday, Dec. 12 for the first round of the Stephanie Phillips Classic against Republic. Rogersville (3-1) travels to Ava on Monday, Dec. 9.
CHAMPIONSHIP: Fair Grove – 62, Rogersville – 52
Fair Grove 17 15 15 15 — 62
Rogersville 10 13 12 17 — 52
Fair Grove scoring: Brooke Daniels – 14, Ashton Bell – 11, Camdyn Hart – 10, Emma Padgett – 10, Abbey Green – 9, Becca Kepes – 5, Sage Crowley – 3
Rogersville scoring: Hailey Buckman – 18, Sidney Holland – 9, Addison Cleghorn – 9, Eden Kibby – 6, Courtney Batey – 4, Regan Rassmussen – 4, Taylor Wray – 2
THIRD PLACE: West Plains 71, Clever 54 – CLICK HERE FOR PHOTOS
West Plains – 20-21-14-16 — 71
Clever – 10-11-20-13 – 54
W: Gillian Green 22, Ainsley McWilliams 14, Shaylee Peterson 14, Delani Wahome 7, Ashley Culton 4, Lucy Hafer 3, Zoe Scharnhorst 3, Zoe Shrubb 2, Violet Hafer 2
C: Bella Argo 14, Kinley Burk 12, Kenzie Camp 9, Lex Flood 8, Ella Newman 7, Katelynn Butts 3, Izi Hunter 1
CONSOLATION: Aurora 67, Springfield Catholic 47 – CLICK HERE FOR PHOTOS
Aurora – 17-17-18-15 — 67
Catholic – 6-12-10-19 – 47
A: Kylee Cole 34, Brooke Blevins 9, Alyssa Burch 7, Makena Hall 6, Jaelyn Ernest 6, Miley Feringa 3, Nadia Davis 2
C: Lila Griesemer 16, Peyton Wiseman 8, Makenna Phipps 7, Annabelle Cleeton 6, Riley Hein 5, Alice Farmer 3, Ragan Barron 2
SEVENTH PLACE: Mt. Vernon 67, Lebanon 60 – CLICK HERE FOR PHOTOS
Mt. Vernon – 20-10-20-17 — 67
Lebanon – 8-20-17-15 — 60
M: Cheyenne Bieber 20, Emily Schubert 12, Madison Rinker 10, Audrey Bittle 9, Kenley Eidemiller 6, Teagyn Huver 4, Isabel Cloud 4, Mary Fields 1
L: Morgan Durbin 18, Mackenzie Perryman 12, Madison Myers 11, Lilly Bradbury 7, Kendall Bybee 5, Faith Coffman 3, Rayleigh Guccione 2, Madilynn Hilton 2
