Fulton Hornets senior guard Anthony Porter hit six 3-pointers on Friday night but none were more important than his final one. Porter drained one from beyond the arc with just 4.5 seconds left in the fourth quarter to send Friday night's game against North Central Missouri Conference opponent Moberly into overtime.
That shot tied the game at 45. Fulton wouldn't get much closer as the Spartans used a 13-5 run in overtime to beat the Hornets by a score of 58-50. The loss was the third straight for Fulton, who went into the holiday break having won six of its first eight games.
The Hornets fell behind in the third quarter after pouring in 20 points in the second quarter alone. Moberly held the Fulton to just 16 points in the entire second half and featured three double digit scorers. Venzell Tigue led all scorers with 20 points while Mitch and Cody Westhues scored 14 and 11 respectively.
Porter finished the game with 18 while sophomore guard Deon Galbreat had 11. Moberly made 9-of-10 free throws in overtime to drop the Hornets to 6-4 overall and 2-2 in the NCMC. The Fulton junior varsity team ran its record to 7-0 with a 39-33 win over Moberly. Junior guard Austin Moore had 10 points. Fulton has drawn the No. 2 seed in next week's California Tournament and they will take on Knob Noster on Tuesday evening.
Tipton..............................................................51
North Callaway basketball (V/G).....................50
KINGDOM CITY - Tipton's Cameron Backus hit a pair of free throws with nine seconds left to put Tipton over North Callaway on Friday night. The T-Birds had a chance to tie the game but turned the ball over with three seconds left, allowing Tipton to run the clock out.
Junior guard Zach Lavy led three North Callaway double digit scores with 11 points and also posted four assists and four steals. Senior guard Caleb Floyd had 10 points and sophomore forward Zack Eads had 10 points and nine rebounds.
North Callaway (2-7) let the game get away from them at the line (7-of-16 shooting as a team) and through turnovers, of which the T-Birds had 20.
"We're right there but it's another heartbreaking loss," head coach Tim Turlington said. "It's amazing to lose by one point when you have 20 turnovers but we just need to get over the hump."
Tipton's junior varsity also beat North Callaway by one, by a score of 40-39. The T-Birds junior varsity plays Tuesday against South Callaway in the Harrisburg Tournament at 7:30 p.m. The varsity team plays in the South Callaway tournament on Monday against Harrisburg.
Fulton basketball (8/G)....................................38
Mexico.............................................................33
MOBERLY - Fulton got 18 points and 11 rebounds from forward NaShayla Brandt in Friday nights win at the Moberly Tournament. Guard Sloane Totta also had a double digit performance on the day, scoring 16 points and grabbing eight steals.
The team played in the championship game of the tournament on Saturday though statistics and scores were not available at the time.
Westminster basketball (W)..................................79
Eureka......................................................................72
ST. LOUIS - With their seven point win on Saturday, Westminster tied for the best start to St. Louis Intercollegiate Athletic Conference in school history. The Blue Jays now stand at 8-5 overall and 5-0 in the SLIAC.
It was the team's third straight win and the 44th of coach Tracey Braden's career, tied for the best in school history. Sophomore Kenna Cornelson led all scorers with 24 points and five rebounds for the Blue Jays. Freshman Leigh Ann Lutz put together 13 points and five rebounds while junior guard Rachel Backes finished with 11 points, six assists and chalked up four steals in the win.
They'll play next at home on Wednesday at 6 p.m. against SLIAC foe Greenville.