ADVANCE HANDS LOSS TO LEOPOLD

ADVANCE, Mo. -- Advance shook off stubborn Leopold in the second half to win their regular season finale 76-49 Friday night in boys basketball action.

Advance (19-7), the No. 1 seed in the Class 1A, District 2 Tournament which gets underway on Monday, dominated the Wildcats in the second half, outscoring them 41-19. The Hornets led just 35-30 at halftime.

"We came out with fullcourt pressure, forced some turnovers for easy baskets and shot the ball better in the second half," said Advance coach Jim Hall.

Sophomore Jared Ritter paced Advance with 22 points, including four 3-pointers. Adam Rainey added 17 points and Andrew Jenkins chipped in with 12. The Hornets totaled 10 treys for the evening.

Leopold (9-14) was led by Ashton James' 21 points, while Daniel Schaab and Kevin Holzum tallied 12 and 11 points, respectively.

Scott County Central 75, Delta 56

DELTA, Mo. -- Scott Central broke the game wide open in the third quarter as it defeated Delta.

"We just fell apart in the third quarter," said Delta coach Jim Gloth.

The Braves outscored Delta 26-8 in the period, to improve to 10-12, while Delta fell to 9-14. It was the final regular season game for both teams.

Delta trailed only 30-23 at halftime.

Todd Blissett led Scott Central with 21 points, while Chris Johnson added 17 points and Terrance Williams had 14 .

Troy Nussbaum paced the Bobcats with 17 points. Lance Kinder and Craig Bock contributed 11points each.

Valle 66, St. Vincent 60

STE. GENEVIEVE, Mo. -- Tyler Wengert's 31-point effort wasn't enough to deliver an Indian victory in their regular season finale.

Valle jumped out to an 18-9 first-period lead and made it stand to gain a split (1-1) of the season series with St. Vincent.

St. Vincent held a 51-48 scoring edge over the final three quarters, but unable to dig out of the first-quarter hole.

Wengert knocked down seven 3-pointers, while Valle's Ryan Kuehn had five in his team-leading total of 24 points.

Kuehn's supporting cast was more effective, however, as Ryan Odneal chipped in with 16 points and Kory Drury added 15. St. Vincent had no other scorers in double figures.

St. Vincent finished with a 17-7 regular season mark, and will face Oak Ridge in the first round of the district tournament on Tuesday at 5 p.m. The Indians drew the second-seed.

Eagle Ridge 69, Crosspoint 39

JOPLIN, Mo. -- Eagle Ridge broke open a close game with a big second quarter to cruise past Crosspoint Christian School in the consolation bracket of the Missouri Christian Schools Athletic Association Tournament.

Kris Dodson and Toby Shreve combined for 49 points to lead the Eagles, with Dodson scoring 28. Mike Probst added 10 points.

Eagle Ridge clung to a two-point lead at the end of the first quarter, 10-8, then exploded for 27 points in the second quarter to post a 37-18 advantage at the half.

The second half saw the Eagles extend their lead by outscoring Crosspoint 32-21.

Ryan Gelinas paced Crosspoint with 15 points.

The Eagles (11-13) will vie for the consolation championship against Crescent Lake at 9:30 a.m. today at the Joplin YMCA.

GIRLS BASKETBALL

Grandview 63, Eagle Ridge 24

JOPLIN, Mo. -- The Lady Eagles saw their 12-game win streak shattered by a big, physical Grandview team in the semifinal round of the Missouri Christian Schools Athletic Association Tournament.

Third-seed Eagle Ridge (15-4) stayed close to No. 2 Grandview Christian School during the opening half, trailing only 20-16 at halftime.

But Grandview, with two frontline players over 6-foot, battered the Lady Eagles in the second half, outscoring them 43-8.

Eagle Ridge had no players in double figures. Rachel Carbaugh led the way with eight points.

Liz Robertson netted 22 points for Grandview.

The Lady Eagles will meet fourth-seed New Life Christian School for third place today at 11 a.m.