Fayette Girls Stave Off Upset, Harrisburg Leads Whole Way

Photo Courtesy of Austin Ward, Alpha Media Moberly, MO

The Fayette girls held off an upset bid by Sturgeon and Harrisburg led the entire way over New Franklin in first round action of the Class 2 District 7 Tournament Monday.

There were 10 lead changes between Fayette and Sturgeon and the Lady Falcons pulled out a 41-36 win. Sixth-seeded Sturgeon held a 30-29 lead after three quarters. Fayette used free throws to pull ahead late then put the game away in the closing seconds.

Austin Ward with the call on 99.9 The Captain and centralmoinfo.com. Oakleigh Hill made all four of her free throws in the fourth quarter and scored a game-high 20 points. Sturgeon was led by Aydan Wilhite’s 15. Coach Michael Smith said his team did what he wanted.

The Lady Bulldogs close the season 9-17. Fayette gets Westran in the semis. The Lady Hornets opened the night with a 69-31 win over Slater.

In the 4-5 game, fifth-seeded Harrisburg held New Franklin without a field goal in the first quarter in a 51-41 victory. Harrisburg pulled away each time New Franklin got close.

New Franklin cut its deficit to one in the second and third quarters, and got as close as three in the fourth. Harrisburg coach Ryan Richardson credits a tough regular season schedule for not flinching.

Harrisburg had three reach double figures: Macie Ellis a team-high 11 while Emma Fischer and Poppy Spry each contributed 10. New Franklin’s Lily Chitwood led all scorers with 19. Coach Parker Gross…