Carl Junction girls finish third at Bill Hanson Memorial
Jan. 22—PITTSBURG, Kan. — The Carl Junction girls basketball team wrapped up the Bill Hanson Memorial Tournament on a winning note, capturing third place with a 39-33 win over the Webster Groves Statesmen on Saturday morning at Pittsburg High School.
It was evident early that the Statesmen game plan was to stop Carl Junction's Kylie Scott from scoring, smothering the future Oral Roberts player with triple and sometime quadruple defenders.
'That happens a lot," Carl Junction coach Ryan Odaffer said. "She is getting accustomed to it, and our team is getting accustomed to it. We just have to keep her moving and keep her active inside/out. She draws a lot of attention."
Despite the emphasis on Scott, the Carl Junction senior managed to score six of her game-total 15 points in the first quarter. Scott also racked up a number of assists, with the primary beneficiary being junior teammate Dezi Williams, who finished with a game-high 16 points.
"They have played at a high level together for the last three years," Odaffer said. "They understand each other and what each others' strengths and weaknesses are. They do a great job of playing off each other. Dez did a great job of stepping up and having a big game for us tonight."
The Bulldogs got an early 6-0 lead off of a Scott bucket, a Williams baseline drive to the basket and two Scott free throws. Webster Groves (9-7) tightened the game to 6-5 with a 3-pointer and an additional score from Ainsley Kniker.
Another Scott score for CJ made it 8-5, but Webster Groves' Addison Simpson hit a 12-foot jumper at the buzzer to pull her team within 1 point at 8-7 heading into the second period.
Williams opened the second quarter with a steal that she took the length of the floor for a layup, and senior Anna Burch hit a 3-pointer to put Carl Junction up 13-7 at the 5:45 mark.
The Bulldogs extended their lead to 19-11 off a Williams score from a Scott assist with 1:15 left. Williams closed the half with a score on a putback that sent the Bulldogs into the locker room with a 21-13 halftime lead.
Both teams struggled to score in the third period, but the Bulldogs climbed to their biggest lead of the game, 24-13.
Webster Groves' Ellie Heimann followed with a 3-pointer, then Scott hit a turn-around jumper in the lane to make it 26-16, but the Statesmen closed out the third quarter on a 7-0 run to make it 26-23 going into the final period.
Heimann opened the final frame with back-to-back 3-pointers to give the Statesmen their only lead of the game at 29-26, but the Bulldogs answered with a 9-0 run that included back-to-back Scott assists to Williams, who broke quickly to the basket on lasers from Scott.
On Thursday, the Bulldogs travel to Lebanon for the I-44 Classic.
