Missouri girls winter sports notebook: Liberty, Truman play thriller in tourney final
Here are five takeaways from the past week in Missouri side high school girls winter sports:
1. The Suburban Red Conference girls basketball championship race is shaping up to be a good one — before it even starts.
How? Well, Truman and Liberty offered a glimpse of it Saturday in the title game of the Truman Tournament.
Truman junior point guard Kierra Collier made a game-winning shot with 6.4 seconds left to lift the Patriots to a 41-38 win. Liberty lost for just the second time this season.
The teams were initially slated to meet again on Monday — this time in their of two conference matchups — but they rescheduled the meeting for Feb. 1 at Truman. The Patriots will make the return trip to Liberty on Feb. 19.
2. University Academy has played all but one game this season away from its home court.
The familiarity with competing on the road is starting to pay dividends.The Gryphons won the Lady Wildcat Tournament at Washington High School on Friday, defeating Van Horn 42-30 in the championship game.
Over the course of the three-game tournament, sophomore Khaliah Hines averaged 17.5 points, 7.0 rebounds and 4.0 assists per contest.
University Academy, 10-5, is only one victory shy of matching its total from last season, when it finished 11-13.
3. Overtime. A 34-point outing on one side. A pair of 20-plus point efforts on the other.
St. Teresa’s Academy defeated Lee’s Summit North 68-66 on Monday in a game that featured a little bit of everything.
The Stars, 12-4, were led by senior Grace Kitts, who had 26 points, and senior Ryan Wilkins, who had 24 points.
Aaliyah Johnson scored 34 points for Lee’s Summit North, 10-6, which lost its second straight game after it had its six-game winning streak snapped Friday in the championship of the Blue Valley North Invitational.
4. Less than two weeks after bringing home a midseason tournament championship, the Grain Valley Eagles took the first step toward repeating their efforts.
They opened the Grain Valley Sonic Showdown with a 57-25 win Monday against Raytown South. Guards Claire Rose and Kendyll Bailey combined for 35 points.
The same duo helped lead the Eagles to a first-place finish at the Pleasant Hill Tournament earlier this month. Rose and Bailey were selected to that all-tournament team.
5. Two days after William Chrisman lost to its top rival for the second time this season, the Bears earned a bounce-back win in the most dramatic of fashions.
Bri Burns unleashed a three-pointer just before the buzzer sounded to give the Bears a 47-45 win Saturday against four-time defending state-champion Rock Bridge. Burns had 18 points in the game.
As a result, the Bears took third place in the Truman Tournament.
This story was originally published January 26, 2016 at 6:15 PM with the headline "Missouri girls winter sports notebook: Liberty, Truman play thriller in tourney final."