Lady Tigers edge Vienna for county hardwood bragging rights

By Will Johnson, Sports Editor
Posted 2/26/20

Claiming the Battle Of Maries County trophy with a 49-36 victory at home last year, Evin Farris’ Belle Lady Tigers looked to make it two years in a row Thursday night on the road in Vienna …

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Lady Tigers edge Vienna for county hardwood bragging rights

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Claiming the Battle Of Maries County trophy with a 49-36 victory at home last year, Evin Farris’ Belle Lady Tigers looked to make it two years in a row Thursday night on the road in Vienna against the host Lady Eagles.

Trailing 23-22 at halftime and 33-29 through three quarters, Belle needed an Olivia Sanders free throw in the final seconds to secure a hard-fought 42-41 victory and Maries County girl’s basketball bragging rights for another year.

In the first quarter, Vienna limited Halle Smith to two free throws helping them to only trail the Lady Tigers 11-8.

Kadence George (Vienna) and Sanders led their respective teams with five first-quarter points each.

Edging Belle 15-11 in the second quarter, Vienna went into halftime on their home court with a slim 23-22 lead.

George added nine points in the second period giving her a game-high 14 points in the first half.

Sanders led Belle with nine first-half points while the Lady Eagles limited Smith to seven first-half markers on just one field goal and five free throws.

Once again outscoring Belle 10-7 to start the second half, Vienna took a 33-29 lead into the fourth quarter looking to keep the Battle of Maries County trophy in western Maries County.

Limited to eight points in the final eight minutes, Vienna saw Belle hit nine of their 12 free throws in the fourth quarter to escape with the victory.

George (Vienna) and Smith (Belle) shared game-high scoring honors scoring 19 points each for their respective teams.

Sanders also reached double figures for Belle with 12 points scoring nine of them in the first half.

Hali Naber added seven points followed by two points each from Susie Moman and Grace Busch.

In a two-quarter JV game, Belle turned a 7-5 halftime lead into a 21-8 victory.

Helping the JV Lady Tigers to a lead after one quarter were the trio of Ryleigh Long, Morgan Willis and Faith Gieck each scoring two points.

Tera Huffman (3) and George (2) accounted for all five Vienna JV points in the first seven minutes.

Firing in three 3-point shots in the second quarter, Belle pulled away for the victory in the JV contest.

Long led the Lady Tigers with a game-high eight points followed closely by seven from Gieck.

Susie Moman added three points in the second quarter followed by Willis’ two and a first-quarter free throw from Molly Busch for one point.

Hitting the road for a make-up game last Wednesday, Jason Kampeter’s Vienna Lady Eagles ventured into Crawford County to take on Steelville’s Lady Cardinals who were looking to clinch an outright Gasconade Valley Conference (GVC) basketball title.

Held to seven first-half points by a stingy Steelville defense, Vienna came up on the wrong end of a 72-27 final score.

Seeing the Lady Cardinals put 18 points on the board, Vienna dashed Steelville’s first-quarter shutout bid with a Tera Huffman free throw.

Scoring six points in the second quarter, the Lady Eagles went into halftime trailing Steelville 39-7.

Autumn Smith led Vienna with four first-half points followed closely by Jena Schwartze with two points.

Moving their point total into double digits during the third quarter, the Lady Eagles ended the period trailing Steelville 59-17.

Kadence George paced Vienna with four points in the third quarter.

Edged 13-10 in the final eight minutes, Smith led the Lady Eagles with six fourth-quarter points giving her a team-high 10 points for the game.

Schwartze added five points followed by four each from Kamryn Hayes and George.

Sydney Booker paced Steelville with a game-high 23 points and also surpassed 1,000 career points in a Lady Cardinal basketball uniform.

That victory also gave Steelville their fourth consecutive Gasconade Valley Conference (GVC) regular season championship.

Opening play Saturday in the Missouri State High School Activities Association (MSHSAA) Class 2, District 9 Girls Basketball Tournament hosted by Laquey High School.

Seeded seventh, Jason Kampeter’s Lady Eagles faced off against the second-seeded Newburg Lady Wolves.

Looking for the first upset of the tournament, Vienna fell just short coming out on the wrong end of a 42-32 final score.

Two days later Monday night, Evin Farris’ Belle Lady Tigers opened play in the MSHSAA Class 2, District 8 Girls Basketball Tournament hosted by New Bloomfield High School.

Locked up in a tight game for 40 minutes, Belle saw their season end following a 56-55 double-overtime loss to the Harrisburg Lady Bulldogs.

More on these districts games will be in next week’s Advocate.