Lady Pirates pick up three more win last week, 12-4 overall

Pirate basketball defeats Sarcoxie Bears on homecoming night, falls to Diamond in early week action
 
 
The Ash Grove High School girls basketball team continues to dominate, picking up three more wins last week, allowing only an average of about 33 points per game.
The Lady Pirates hosted Sarcoxie on Thursday, Jan. 15 and came away with an easy 67-25 victory.
Ash Grove led 16-7 after the first quarter but a 26-point second quarter put the game out of reach for the Lady Bears, as the Lady Pirates entered the half with a 42-17 lead. Ash Grove would only give up a total of eight points in the second half to cruise to the 42-point win.
Bristol Lathrop and Millison Sapp both paced Ash grove with 21 points each.
On Tuesday, Jan. 13, the Lady Pirates hosted Spokane and won the game 67-40.
After a close first quarter, in which the Lady Pirates only led 13-9, Ash Grove broke out for 18 points in the second quarter to take a 31-19 halftime lead. In the third quarter, the Lady Pirates scored 16 points, but the Lady Owls stayed right with them, scoring 15 points of their own to trail 47-34. Ash Grove blew the game wide open in the final quarter, hitting 20 points but only allowing six points for the 27-point victory.
Lathrop led Ash Grove with 18 points, Lacey McCullough added 14 points, and Sapp finished the game with 10 points.
The Lady Pirates started the week by hosting Blue Eye on Monday, Jan. 12 and won the game 55-33.
Ash Grove led 17-9 after the first quarter and 28-19 at the half, In the third quarter, the Lady Pirates allowed just three points while scoring 15 points to increase their lead to 43-22. Ash grove would add 12 more points in the fourth quarter to win the game by 22 points.
Lathrop led Ash Grove with 27 points and Sapp added 15 points in the win.
The Lady Pirates are 12-4 on the season and will spend this week playing in the Lady Comet Classic in Marionville.

Boys basketball
The Pirates basketball team hosted again on Friday, Jan. 16 and won the game by 11 points, 60-49.
Ash Grove jumped out to an 18-4 first quarter lead and never looked back as the Pirates added another 17 points in the second quarter to take a 35-16 halftime lead. The Bears outscored the Pirates 15-10 in the third quarter to cut the Ash Grove lead to 45-31. Spokane scored another 18 points in the fourth quarter, but Ash Grove added 15 points to win the game by 11 points.
Jaden Hance led Ash Grove with 18 points and Easton Rust added 13 points in the win.
“We came out of the gate really hot and built up a big lead that we were able to ride to the finish,” said head coach Grant Williamson. “It was a great homecoming atmosphere and getting a win in front of a crowd like that is always exciting!”
Ash Grove traveled to Diamond on Tuesday and came home with a 46-40 loss.
The Pirates led 10-8 after the first quarter but the Wildcats outscored Ash Grove 12-10 in the second quarter to go into the half tied at 20-20. In the third quarter, Diamond was able to hold Ash Grove to just eight points but only scored 10 points of their own, to lead by two going into the final quarter of play. In the fourth the Wildcats scored 16 points to defeat Ash Grove by six points.
Kyler Reece led Ash Grove with 23 points.
“We battled through some adversity and struggled to secure offensive rebounds,‚Äù said Williamson. ‚ÄúDiamond was able to control the pace of the game without a shot clock, and the limited possessions really made it a grind.”
The Pirates are 9-7 on the season and will spend this week in Point Lookout playing in the Patriot Winter Games Tournament.