Callaway Preps

Ladybirds thump Van-Far 56-20 for share of EMO title

Senior guard Jaida Gray led all players with 19 points as North Callaway locked up a share of the Eastern Missouri Conference title with a 56-20 bashing of Van-Far to close out its regular season on Friday night.

They're conference co-champions along with the Clopton Lady Hawks.

"It feels really good," Ladybirds head coach Matt Miller said. "I'm proud of the team, it was one of our goals we set forth at the beginning of the year.

"I'm proud of the team and proud of the seniors."

Kirksville 47

Fulton 45

KIRKSVILLE - Sophomore guard Sloane Totta registered a game-high 17 points as the Lady Hornets' attempted comeback fell short in a North Central Missouri Conference loss to the Kirksville Lady Tigers on Friday night.

Fulton (8-15, 4-6) led 19-18 at halftime and by three late in the third quarter, but were outscored 7-0 to close out the third. The Lady Tigers took a 30-26 lead into the fourth and pushed that advantage out to eight midway through the final eight minutes.

The Lady Hornets closed the game on a 5-0 run and produced the final outcome thanks to a 3-pointer by sophomore guard Rachel Guse'.

Sophomore forward NaShayla Brandt finished with 10 points and senior forward Maddie Washington added seven points and a game-high 10 rebounds.

"I was really proud of them," Lady Hornets head coach TJ Quick said. "They still need to clean up the fourth quarter a little bit; we're still making mental mistakes and mistakes that we can make in the fourth quarter, which is okay because we can come back from them and we need to clean them up heading into districts."

Boy's basketball

North Callaway 49

Van-Far 34

VANDALIA - Senior forward Brett Metcalf supplied a game-high 12 points in the Thunderbirds' season-closing EMO win over Van-Far on Friday night.

North Callaway (12-13, 6-3) led 24-14 at half as they closed the regular season with a fifth win in its last six games.

"The way we defended, we defended them really well tonight," T-Bird head coach Tim Turlington said. "We pushed them out of their sets and played them hard tonight."

Junior guard Michael Pezold scored nine points off the bench while senior guard Chance Kee pulled down a game-high 11 rebounds to go along with six points. Senior guard Miguel Hudson also had six points and handed out five assists.

"I think (the balanced scoring) is great; that's how we'd like it to be all the time," Turlington said. "It makes you hard to guard because you got guys putting it in the hole."

Tuscumbia 65

New Bloomfield 57

TUSCUMBIA - Sophomore guard Grant Nichols was one of two Wildcats in double figures with a game-high 17 points, but New Bloomfield bowed to the Show-Me Conference foe Tuscumbia Lions in its regular season finale on Friday night.

After falling behind 13-7 in the first quarter, the Wildcats closed the gap slightly with an 11-10 scoring advantage in the second to trail 23-18 at halftime. Tuscumbia responded with 19 in the third and held New Bloomfield to 11 to pull ahead 42-29 after three quarters.

Sophomore foward Leo Ramirez joined Nichols in double figures with 10 points.

To help the tornado-stricken people of Dumas and surroundings, donations can be made to the Delta Area Disaster Relief Fund, care of the Delta Area Community Foundation, P.O. Box 894, Dumas, AR, 71639, or through the Arkansas Community Foundation, 700 S. Rock St., Little Rock, AR, 72202.