The Hickman Kewpies seemingly couldn’t miss.
The Hickman girls were 13-of-15 from the field in the second half Thursday night on their way to a 64-43 victory against the Helias Lady Crusaders in the winner’s bracket semifinals of the Jefferson Bank Holiday Hoops Classic at Capital City High School.
“This one is tough to take,” Helias coach Garrett Wiggans said. “It wasn’t that we got beat, it was the way we got beat.
“They shot really well, we have to do a better job of trying to play better defense, that’s what we hang our hats on and we definitely didn’t get that done tonight.”
Gallery: Helias Girls Basketball vs. Hickman
The game was tied at 12 late in the first quarter before Hickman went on a 7-2 spurt to take a 19-14 advantage into the second quarter. The scoring slowed in the second quarter as Helias got as close as four points at 24-20 before Hickman tallied the final four points to take a 28-20 advantage into intermission.
The Kewpies went 8-of-9 from the field in the third quarter, scoring 18 of the first 20 points to take a 46-22 lead before Ava Morris hit a basket at the buzzer in what was a four-point quarter for the Lady Crusaders.
The Lady Crusaders got as close as 17 on four occasions in the fourth quarter.
“We didn’t play the way we’re capable of playing tonight,” Wiggans said.
Jayla Griffith led four Kewpies in double figures with 19 points. Ashtyn Klusmeyer added 15, while Ella Rogers and Sy’rae Stemmons totaled 13 points each.
Hickman (9-1), which receiving votes in the latest Class 6 rankings by the Missouri Basketball Coaches Association, will face Jefferson City (6-3) for the tournament title at 5:30 p.m. today. The Lady Jays edged St. Joseph Benton 52-50 in Thursday’s first semifinal.
Adalyn Koelling finished with 17 points for Helias (9-1), ranked No. 1 in Class 5.
“You never want to lose a game, but 9-1 is not a bad record to have in December,” Wiggans said. “We have some goals we want to reach that you can’t reach in December.”
Morris added 11 for the Lady Crusaders.
“We’re going to have to get more girls in double figures, we have to find a way to get some other girls some open looks,” Wiggans said. “If we don’t do that, we’re not going to win many games. And I have to find a way for us to do that.”
It will be the third time Helias has played Benton in the last 12 months. The Lady Crusaders defeated the Lady Cardinals 41-39 in the opening round of the Classic, then Benton topped Helias 47-42 in the Class 4 state semifinals last March.
“We’re excited to get to play them again,” Wiggans said. “We’re going to have to be ready to play and I know our girls well enough that they don’t want to lose two in a row.”
Game time is 4 p.m.