Bell wins MGA Junior Match Play Championship

Sarah Bell, a 14-year-old from Jackson, won the MGA Junior Match Play Championship last week at Rivercut Golf Course in Springfield, Missouri.

Bell finished first in a 27-player field, defeating Rebecca Su of Town & Country, Missouri, 3 and 2, in the championship match Thursday.

Bell, went 5-0 in match play, including a pair of victories Wednesday that vaulted her into the final. She first bested two-time defending champion Ashley Childers of Mount Vernon, Missouri, 4 and 3 in the quarterfinals match in the morning before edging Emma Solovic of Imperial, Missouri, 3 and 2 in the afternoon semifinals match.

She had routed Billie McKinley of Columbia, Missouri, 9 and 8 in the first-round play Tuesday morning before defeating Hannah Muroski of Ashland, Missouri, 5 and 4 in the afternoon.

Bell, a rising sophomore at Notre Dame Regional High School, finished third at the Missouri Class 1 girls tournament on the same course in October during her freshman season.