St. Pius X girls battle in weather-shortened Hy-Vee Shootout

Since its beginning 22 years ago, the Hy-Vee Shootout has become one of the biggest events on the Kansas City area high school basketball scene. Mother Nature, however, made this year’s shootout a lot less big.

Saturday’s ice and snow wiped out eight of the 13 scheduled boys and girls teams between teams from both sides of the state line in the two-day event at Avila University. But the teams on Friday night’s schedule beat the weather, including the St. Pius X girls. Pius opened the shootout by taking on Leavenworth and battled the Pioneers to the end before falling 41-36.

Abby Hipp, at 6-foot-2 forward and Missouri State signee, led Pius with 12 points and 16 rebounds for her fifth double-double of the season. Antoinette Mussorici also had 12 points for the Warriors, who battled back from a 10-point halftime deficit and stayed within striking distance of Leavenworth down the stretch.

Among the teams that had to stay home Saturday were the Park Hill boys, who were scheduled to play Blue Valley North.

This story was originally published December 19, 2016 at 11:07 AM with the headline "St. Pius X girls battle in weather-shortened Hy-Vee Shootout."