Top-seeded North Callaway ramped up the defensive effort on its way to repeating as Centralia Tournament champions.
Senior guard Jaida Gray supplied a game-high 27 points and the Ladybirds limited the No. 2 seeded Boonville Lady Pirates to 13 second-half points as North Callaway cruised to a 57-39 win in the Centralia Tournament championship game on Saturday evening.
Gray knocked down a 3-pointer to open up the Ladybirds scoring and, in doing so, eclipsed 1,000 points for her North Callaway career. It was her only triple of the game as she finished 10-of-13 from the field and 4-for-5 from the free throw line to go along with four steals.
Boonville, ranked No. 10 in the MBCA/MOsports.com Class 3 poll, led 13-12 after a quarter, but was outscored by the Ladybirds in the second quarter 17-13 to trail 29-26 at halftime. The Lady Pirates (6-1) would log just four points in the third quarter and nine in the final frame while the Ladybirds tallied 28 points after intermission.
North Callaway was 20-of-35 from the field (58 percent), 3-for-5 from 3-point and hit its final 14 free throws to finish 14-of-15 from the line while grabbing 30 rebounds.
Senior foward Maddie Sorell finished with 12 points and six rebounds and junior guard Elaine Brinker added nine points and delivered six assists as both joined Gray on the all-tournament team. Senior forward Tara Oberlag matched Sorell with six rebounds while senior forward Kelsey Coil handed out five assists.
Boonville got 12 points from Morgan Edwards and four points from Paige Renfrow as they, too, were named to the all-tournament team.
"It was great to defend the tournament championship," North Callaway head coach Matt Miller said. "The girls did a really good job with only giving them one shot on the defensive end and we shot the ball really well."