New Salem girls can extend state title streak today

~ The two-time defending state champion Eagles will play Liberty Christian for the MCSAA basketball crown.

New Salem Baptist of Marble Hill continued its quest for its third straight championship game in the Missouri Christian School Athletic Association Class 2A girls tournament on Friday with a 43-36 win over Training Center in the semifinals at Joplin.

The Eagles (16-1) have won the last two state titles straight titles. New Salem will face No. 2 Liberty Christian at 11:30 a.m. today in the finals.

Sarah Green led New Salem with 25 points, including an 8-for-8 performance from the free throw line in the fourth quarter. Celsey Cook added eight points.

New Salem 43, Training Center 36

Training Center 12 4 4 16 -- 36

New Salem 12 9 9 13 -- 43

TRAINING CENTER (36) -- Sarah Bates 14, Paige Woerner 6, Jessica Johnston 16. FG 17, FT 2-8, F 14 (3-pointers: none. Fouled out: none)

NEW SALEM (43) -- Celsey Cook 8, Laura Poole 6, Martha Poole 4, Sarah Green 25. FG 16, FT 10-13, F 13 (3-pointers: Green 1. Fouled out: L. Poole)

Meadow Heights 41,Saxony Lutheran 36

Second-year varsity program Meadow Heights tripled its win total from last year with its sixth win of the season at the Greenville Tournament.

The Panthers (6-15) finished 2-1 in the tournament for second place. Amanda Hendrickson led Meadow Heights with 13 points.

Kara Versemann led Saxony Lutheran, a first-year program, with 12 points and Tori Ourth added 11.

Meadow Heights 8 6 10 17 -- 41

Saxony Lutheran 11 9 6 10 -- 36

MEADOW HEIGHTS (41) -- Sarah Hendrickson 4, Ashley Doublin 9, Amanda Hendrickson 13, Sahra Mills 2, Tora Jordan 6, Chelsey Kight 7. FG 12, FT 15-20, F 14 (3-pointers: Doublin 1, A. Hendrickson 1. Fouled out: A. Hendrickson)

SAXONY LUTHERAN (36) -- Cassie Simpher 5, Nicole Ottersburg 2, Tori Ourth 11, Tiffany Haertling 4, Laura Koenig 2, Kara Versemann 12. FG 13, FT 9-16, F 15 (3-pointers: Versemann 1. Fouled out: none)

BOYS BASKETBALLNew Salem Baptist 39, Eagle Ridge Christian 28

Third-seeded New Salem Baptist of Marble Hill knocked off rival Eagle Ridge in the semifinals of the 2A Missouri Christian School Athletic Association state tournament in Joplin.

New Salem outscored second-seeded Eagle Ridge 27-10 in the second half to pull out the win and advance to the final. New Salem will play top-seeded Liberty Christian at 1 p.m. today in the finals.

Brett Jones led New Salem with 16 points and Trent Jones had 13.

Ben Douglass led Eagle Ridge, which had beaten New Salem three times this season, with 14 points.

New Salem 4 8 16 11 -- 39

Eagle Ridge 11 7 4 6 -- 28

NEW SALEM (39) -- Trent Jones 13, Josh Davault 3, Jerod Crist 6, Axel Malmrof 1, Brett Jones 16. FG 11, FT 15-23, F 12 (3-pointers: T. Jones 2. Fouled out: none)

EAGLE RIDGE (28) -- Ben Douglass 14, Aaron Shell 3, Daniel Lies 2, Daniel Cohen 1, Josh Wiseman 2, Andrew Toeniskoetter 2, Sam Davis 2, Josh Carbaugh 2. FG 12, FT 4-10, F 22 (3-pointers: none. Fouled out: none)

Leopold 88, Delta 59

Eric Fluchel poured in 31 points in a road win.

Darren VanGennip added 27 points for the Wildcats (10-11) and Tyler Clubb added 10.

Tyler Martin, the only Delta player to reach double figures in scoring, had 15 points.

Leopold 14 22 19 33 -- 88

Delta 13 15 15 16 -- 59

LEOPOLD (88) -- Tyler Clubb 10, Trent Vandeven 2, Darren VanGennip 27, Larry Nussbaum 5, Corey Yount 3, Eric Fluchel 31, Matt Stoverink 8, Jordan Jansen 2. FG 28, FT 7-10, F 13 (3-pointers: VanGennip 2, Stoverink 2, Nussbaum 1, Yount 1. Fouled out: none).

DELTA (59) -- Tyler Martin 15, A.J. Horn 6, Dustin Anglin 9, Joe Easley 2, Nathan Stroder 6, Shelby Kight 2. FG 26, FT 5-8, F 16 (3-pointers: Martin 1, Anglin 1. Fouled out: none).

JV -- Leopold won 61-47.

Central 60, Dexter 47

Sophomore George Hamilton scored 19 points as the Tigers won their season finale against visiting Dexter.

Central improved to 11-14 and finished 5-4 in the SEMO Conference.

Kerry Walker added 11 points and Anthony Watts added 10.

Dexter 9 9 14 15 -- 47

Central 15 13 12 20 -- 60

DEXTER (47) -- Hessling 3, Whindham 2, Chamberlain 13, Kelley 8, Carwile 10, Hart 11. FG 17, FT 8-15 (3-pointers: Kelley 2, Carwile 2, Hart 1.)

CENTRAL (60) -- Kerry Walker 11, George Hamilton 19, Anthony Watts 10, Chase Johnson 4, Garrett Pannier 4, Derek Walker 4, Will McKenzie 4, Adam Wendel 2, Landon Ewers 1 0-0 2. FG 26, FT 7-10 (3-pointers: K. Walker 1).

JV -- Dexter won 49-27

Saxony Lutheran 77, Zalma 29

Saxony Lutheran picked up its 20th win by crushing Zalma at home.

Saxony, which improved to 20-3, built a commanding 46-18 lead by halftime.

Ben Courtois led the Crusaders with 18 points and 10 rebounds. Alex Jauch added 17 points and Zach Bohnert had 10.

Justin Lemons led Zalma with nine points.

Zalma 5 13 9 2 -- 29

Saxony 19 27 22 9 -- 77

ZALMA (29) -- Travis Mergel 1, Chad Buehler 5, Timmy Rodgers 6, Colton Bailey 4, Justin Lemons 9, Kevin Walker 4. FG 12, FT 2-9, F 17 (3-pointers: Buehler 1, Rodgers 2. Fouled out: Mergel)

SAXONY LUTHERAN (77) -- Garrett Ruppel 1, Zach Bohnert 10, Bret Steffens 7, Max Wieser 9, Alex Jauch 17, Ben Courtois 18, Clay Obergoenner 9, Austin Kwikkel 6. FG 31, FT 11-18, F 11 (3-pointers: Courtois 3, Steffens 1. Fouled out: none)

JV -- Saxony won 59-21.

Richland 82, Woodland 59

The Cardinals were outscored 26-7 in the third period of a home loss.

Richland took a slim 39-35 lead into the second half and quickly pulled away.

Seth Gaines scored 27 points, including five 3-pointers, and Chad Gaines added 12 for Woodland.

Richland 21 18 26 17 -- 82

Woodland 19 16 7 17 -- 59

RICHLAND (82) -- C. Whittaker 31, Harris 5, Miller 6, Danbert 5, Thornton 11, Burdine 2, Stafford 12, Foster 6, Latham 2, H. Whittaker 2. FG 36, FT 8-16 (3-pointers: Danbert 1, Foster 1, Harris 1, C. Whittaker 1).

WOODLAND (59) -- Caleb Lee 10, Seth Gaines 27, McCarty 3, Timmy Abner 3, Kyle Reynolds 2, Chad Gaines 12, Jordan King 2. FG 23, FT 5-10 (3-pointers: S. Gaines 5, Lee 2, Abner 1).

JV -- Richland won 53-48

-- From staff reports