Ladybirds surprise top-seeded Harrisburg in 63-57 semifinal win

North Callaway wins fifth straight, will play for South Callaway title on Saturday night

MOKANE - The North Callaway Ladybirds' surge now features a high-profile victim.

No. 4 seed North Callaway outscored top-seeded and state-ranked Harrisburg 18-3 in the second quarter and then withstood a fourth-quarter rally by the Lady Bulldogs to preserve a 63-57 semifinal win Wednesday night at the South Callaway Invitational Tournament.

The victory was the fifth in a row for North Callaway (9-5), which will face the winner of Wednesday night's late semifinal between No. 2 seed New Bloomfield and No. 3 Hermann for the tournament title at 5 p.m. Saturday. Harrisburg - ranked No. 7 in Class 2 - slipped to 11-4 on the season.

The Ladybirds trailed 16-13 after the opening 8 minutes, but their second-quarter outburst sent them into halftime with a 31-19 lead. North Callaway went into the fourth quarter with a 45-31 edge, then survived despite being outscored 26-18 over the last 8 minutes.

The Ladybirds made 17-of-25 free throws overall, including 11-of-16 in the fourth quarter. North Callaway hit nine of its last 10 attempts from the line.

Senior guard Elaine Brinker delivered 15 points to guide five players in double figures for the Ladybirds. Junior forward Bethany Bloss and freshman guard Kyla Bertschinger were next with 12 points apiece, while junior guards Erinn Bush and Maddie Ausfahl both had 10.

Brinker also passed out nine assists and Bush pulled down a team-high six rebounds.

"It's nice to be in the championship game," North Callaway head coach Matt Miller said. "The girls faced a lot of adversity and handled it well.

"We did a great job with our defense in the third quarter and then had really good free-throw shooting at the end of the game."

Bailey Ivicsics tallied 13 of her game-high 19 points in the fourth quarter to pace Harrisburg, followed by Kirsten Southerland's 16. Hailey Lowrey chipped in with 14 points and connected on four of the Lady Bulldogs' eight 3-pointers.