MAAA Girls Semifinals on J98

(Park Hills) J-98 will be at Mineral Area College in Park Hills tonight for the girl’s semifinals of the M.A.A.A. conference tournament. The first game is between the top-seeded Farmington Knights and four-seed West County. 16-2 Farmington was in a three-way tie for the regular-season conference title in the large-school division but the coaches deemed the Knights worthy of the one seed. They proved it Tuesday night with a 61-29 win over Arcadia Valley showing tough defense and smart play-making. Knightettes coach Rusty Sancegraw says his teams’ sights are set on the conference championship.

18-3 West County went undefeated in conference play in the small-school division and narrowly escaped 5th seeded Fredericktown the other night to advance to the semis. The Bulldogs beat the Blackcats 39-38. West County coach Bobby Simily says defense is the key to their success.

This is just the 6th meeting between the schools in the last 12 years with each game coming in the conference tournament. Farmington won the first four games but West County won 39-33 three seasons ago.

The second semifinal is a rematch between the 15-4 North County Lady Raiders and the 15-3 Central Lady Rebels. Their first matchup in January went wire-to-wire, with North County taking a 53-49 victory over the Rebels. In that first game, Raiders Center Kamryn Winch scored 17 points and corralled 25 rebounds. Central Head Coach Josh Mapes says its tough to defend against the 6’3 senior.