Marshfield, Kickapoo girls advance to state semifinal games next week in Columbia
Two of southwest Missouri's most storied girls' high school basketball programs will play in state championships next week in Columbia.
Marshfield and Kickapoo won their state quarterfinal matchups on Friday night while Aurora came up short of qualifying for its first semifinal.
Here's what happened on Friday:
Class 4: Owensville 38, Aurora 35
The Lady Houns made a late push but fell short of advancing to its first semifinal in the school's history.
Owensville scored 15 unanswered points during a run to end the third quarter to take a 10-point. The Lady Houns then limited the Dutchgirls to six points in the fourth quarter but couldn't dig itself out of its hole before losing by three.
One of the best seasons in Aurora's history ended with a 25-4 record and its second straight district championship, its first two since 2012. The young roster had no seniors and should be a threat to make another run next year.
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Class 5: Marshfield 56, Helias Catholic 49
Marshfield overcame a six-point deficit about halfway through the fourth quarter to come back and beat Helias Catholic and advance to the Class 5 state semifinals.
Senior star Lauren Luebbert was held scoreless in the first half but scored 16 in the second with 11 coming in the fourth quarter. She made four 3's with one being the go-ahead bucket with 3:37 left.
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Freshman standout Peyton Ward helped the Lady Jays keep pace with Helias Catholic throughout by scoring 22 points with 12 coming in the first half. She scored a critical and-one late when putting the Lady Crusaders away.
Marshfield advances to Wednesday's 10 a.m. Class 5 state semifinal where it will play John Burroughs, a 26-3 team with all three of its losses coming to Class 6 powerhouse Incarnate Word.
Class 6: Kickapoo 53, Lee's Summit 48
For the third time in four years, the Lady Chiefs are state-semifinal bound.
Kickapoo held off a late Lee's Summit surge when they led by as many as 16 late in the third quarter. At 29-1 this season, the Lady Chiefs find themselves in a familiar place under first-year head coach Leslie Hanchey.
The semifinal appearance will be Kickapoo's 16th in its proud history. State-ranked all season long, the Lady Chiefs cruised through most of southwest Missouri play until a back-and-forth battle with Republic saw Kickapoo squeak by for their sixth district championship in seven years.
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A semifinal game against Cor Jesu Academy (St. Louis) awaits Kickapoo. The Chargers beat Marquette 48-41 on Friday night to advance. They are making their fifth semifinal appearance.
Wyatt D. Wheeler is a reporter and columnist with the Springfield News-Leader. You can contact him at 417-371-6987, by email at wwheeler@news-leader.com or X at @WyattWheeler_NL.
This article originally appeared on Springfield News-Leader: Springfield area high school girls basketball state semifinal teams
