MAAA Quarterfinals Day 1 Wrap-Up

(Park Hills) One half of the girls and boys semifinals of the MAAA conference tournament has been set. The Central and North County girls will face off on Thursday and the Central and Valle Catholic boys will meet on Friday.

The day started with the top seeded Central girls taking down nine seed Arcadia Valley 54-14. Central led wire-to-wire and got contributions from everyone who played…

Kinley Norris led the way with 10 points for Central. Coach Josh Mapes gave his thoughts on the victory.

Arcadia Valley played without leading scorer Alyssa Glanzer after she suffered an injury in her team’s win over Bismarck on Saturday. A.V. drops to 5-15 on the year and moves onto the fifth place bracket. Central improves to 18-3.

Full interview with Josh Mapes:

The second girls’ game of the day was an exciting defensive battle, with five seed North Country squeaking out a 36-35 win over four seed Fredericktown. The contest was a back-and-forth affair with a number of late lead changes, including one on a crafty layup by North County’s Allison Scott.

Fredericktown had a chance to win, possessing the ball down one with less than five seconds to go, but North County played good defense and prevented the Blackcats from getting off a shot. North County’s Lainey Calkins led all scorers with 14 points.

After the game, Fredericktown head coach Micah Reutzel praised North County’s defense but acknowledged his team’s shortcomings.

North County improves to 11-9 while advancing to face Central. Fredericktown falls to 10-10 and moves to the fifth place bracket, where they will face Arcadia Valley.
Full interview with Fredericktown’s Micah Reutzel:

The boys’ slate started with top seed Central defeating eight seed Farmington 64-32. Farmington only trailed by five about halfway through the second quarter, but Central picked it up on the defensive end to go on a 17-0 run that bled into the third quarter.

Jobe Bryant scored 14 points and Caden Casey added 12 points for the Rebels. Coach Brad Gross says the defensive tenacity from his team was key in the win.

Central improves to 18-2 on the year. Farmington was led by freshman Tatem Tinsley’s 10 points. The Knights drop to 8-14 and move onto the fifth place bracket.

Full interview with Brad Gross:

In another close contest, the day closed with the Valle Catholic boys holding off North County, 64-61. Valle Catholic trailed by as much as 10 but crawled back thanks to a strong second half. Clayton Drury led the way with 23 points, including several clutch threes.