PERRYVILLE GIRLS MOVE INTO DISTRICT FINAL

NEW MADRID, Mo. -- The second-seed Perryville Lady Pirates (17-9) advanced to the finals of the Class 3A, District 1 Tournament with a 52-29 drubbing of third-seeded Fredericktown Thursday night.

Perryville came out slowly and trailed the Lady Black Cats 15-11 at the end of the first quarter.

"After the first quarter, I told the team that if we were going to win this game, we had to do it on the defensive end," said Perryville coach Vicki Lohmann.

Perryville, obviously, heeded the words of its coach.

For the remainder of the contest, the Lady Pirates allowed Fredericktown a grand total of 14 points.

Stacy Baer netted 17 points and Jamie Amberger added 16 to spark the Lady Pirates offense.

Fredericktown (17-10) was led by Megan Brown with 12 points and Nikki Tucker with 11 points.

Perryville will meet top-seed Doniphan for the district championship at 6 p.m. today.

Notre Dame 85, Chaffee 23

CHAFFEE, Mo. -- Five Lady Bulldogs finished in double figures as Notre Dame's final tune-up for the Class 2A, District 2 Tournament was a rout.

Notre Dame built a 23-2 lead in the first quarter and widened the gap the remainder of the game.

Deanna McCormick and Sierra Ellis each had 15 points apiece for Notre Dame, which finished the regular season at 21-3. Iris Elfrink added 14 points, Ashley Millham finished with 13 and Ali Tyson had 10.

Morgan Kiefer led Chaffee with 15 points. The Lady Red Devils' leading scorer on the season, Jennifer Vandeven, was held to four points.

Notre Dame, which will have the top seed in the district, begins action Saturday at noon against No. 8 Woodland.

Kelly 51, Oran 33

BENTON, Mo. -- Kelly closed its regular season with an impressive 21-4 record as it defeated Oran handily.

Bridgett Riley paced Kelly with 16 points while Dana Essner added 13.

Maria Eftink scored a game-high 18 points for Oran.

Eagle Ridge 41, Peoples 38

JOPLIN, Mo. -- Eagle Ridge (16-3) withstood a last quarter rally by Peoples to advance to the semifinal round of the Missouri Christian Schools Athletic Association Class 2A Tournament.

Leading 33-20 after three quarters, the third-seed Lady Eagles hung on as Peoples came roaring back to make the game close. Sixth-seed Peoples outscored Eagle Ridge 18-8 in the final period.

Amber Karnes and Cara Ervin led Eagle Ridge with 15 and 13 points, respectively.

Amanda Whelehon paced Peoples with 16 points.

Eagle Ridge will meet No. 2 seed Grandview Christian School in the semifinal round of the eight-team tournament at 1 p.m. today.

BOYS BASKETBALL

Oran 68, Kelly 62

BENTON, Mo. -- Adam Friga (22) and Garrett Cook (20) combined for 42 points to lead the Eagles (17-7) to a win in their regular season finale.

Kelly controlled the first half as it held a 36-29 lead at halftime.

With the Hawks offense suddenly out of sync, Oran battled back to take a 51-49 lead into the final quarter.

The Eagles outscored Kelly 17-13 in the final period to close out the win.

Josh Glastetter and Matt Seabaugh paced the Hawks (13-12) with 15 and 14 points, respectively. Michael Romas added 12.

Bell City 79, East Prairie 51

BELL CITY, Mo. -- Gabe Scherer scored a career-high 36 points, including his 1,000th career point, as Bell City cruised past East Prairie.

Eric Henry added 11 points as Bell City finished its regular season at 16-10.

The Cubs took a 19-16 lead into the second quarter and proceeded to outscore the Eagles 20-8 for a 39-24 halftime advantage. The lead topped 20 points by the end of the third quarter.

Bell City opens Class 1A, District 2 play Monday at Oran against Scott County Central.

Woodland 74, Bloomfield 57

MARBLE HILL, Mo. -- The Cardinals (11-12) closed out the regular season on a positive note with a victory over Bloomfield on Senior Night.

In his final home game, senior Jared Houchins poured in a game-high 25 points to lead the Cardinal, while Chris Masters, also a senior, chipped in with 16. Sophomore Alex VanGennip added 17 points.

Woodland held a 34-24 advantage at the intermission and outscored Bloomfield 40-33 in the second half.

M. Heights 68, Zalma 61

PATTON, Mo. -- The Meadow Heights Panthers rallied from a 47-41 third-quarter deficit to overcome the winless Zalma Bulldogs.

The Panthers (4-17) fourth-quarter comeback was keyed by the play of sophomore reserves Derrick Collier who had nine points and Josh Fulton with six as they outscored Zalma 27-14 in the final period.

Brandon Tallent, Josh Mayfield and Collier collected 14 points apiece to lead the Cardinals.

Brad Issac scored 17 points for Zalma (0-18), while Brad Hazel added 10.

Sunshine 73, Eagle Ridge 46

JOPLIN, Mo. -- Fifth-seed Eagle Ridge (10-12) bowed to No. 4 Sunshine in the Missouri Christian Schools Athletic Association Class 2A Tournament at the Joplin YMCA.

Sunshine led 37-18 at the half and increased its lead with a 36-28 advantage in the second half.

Andrew Mellies led the Eagles with 17 points, while Kris Dodson added 10.

Josh Edmiston paced Sunshine with a game-high 25 points.

Eagle Ridge moves to the consolation bracket of the 10-team tournament against No. 8 Crosspoint Christian School today at 2:30 p.m.