By Richard Polen
rpolen@joplinglobe.com
McAuley Catholic’s girls survived a fourth-quarter surge Friday night and defeated Wheaton 38-34 in the McAuley Warrior Basketball Classic.
McAuley led most of the game until Wheaton’s Mina Tichenor hit a 15-foot jump shot with 1 minute, 10 seconds left that gave Wheaton a 34-33 lead.
The Lady Warriors regained the advantage with a 3 by Sonya Kilongkilong with 21 seconds to go, and Jessica Leone, shooting one-and-one, made both free throws with 6.2 second left.
“We made some shots when we needed them,” McAuley head coach Chelsea Holmes said. “In the second and third quarters, we went cold. I’m proud of our kids. They worked hard the entire night.”
McAuley plays Pierce City at 3 p.m. today for third place. The girls’ championship game between Seneca and East Newton is scheduled for 6 p.m., and the consolation game between College Heights and Wheaton is set for noon.
In the boys’ division, New Covenant Academy of Springfield advanced to the championship game Friday night by defeating McAuley 82-61. New Covenant faces Exeter at 1:30 p.m. today.
McAuley plays College Heights at 4:30 p.m. today in the boys’ third-place game.
McAuley’s girls took a 13-7 first-quarter lead against Wheaton when Leone banked in a shot with 2 minutes left in the period, but the Lady Warriors scored just one field goal during the final 10 minutes of the half and trailed 18-17 at halftime.
“We hadn’t hit a lot from the outside,” Holmes said. “We still rushed a few shots outside, so we were looking to get the ball inside.”
Wheaton’s Hailey Adams, assigned to defend McAuley center Mary Black, picked up her fourth foul early in the fourth quarter. Meanwhile, Black scored six of her eight points in the second half.
The Lady Warriors outscored Wheaton 11-2 during the last four minutes of the third quarter, including seven points by Kilongkilong and four by Black. Kilongkilong led McAuley with 17 points.
Wheaton responded with a 10-2 run in the first 51/2 minutes of the fourth quarter and tied the score at 32 when Kasey Littlefield drove the length of the court for a layup with 2:40 remaining.
Mina Tichenor, who led Wheaton with 12 points, scored eight in the final period. Littlefield finished with nine points.
“Wheaton did a great job,” Holmes said. “They always do a good job against us defensively.”
New Covenant, which led 14-11 late in the first quarter, went on an 11-2 run at the start of the second quarter, then took a 43-22 halftime lead after a scoring barrage late in the first half.
“We play in spurts,” New Covenant head coach Hilly Beck said. “When you press like we do and you run, it goes in spurts.
“It was a fast game, and any fast game is tough on the officials. They had to run to both ends of the court.”
Nick Petree scored eight of his 16 points in the second quarter, including a pair of 3s. Luke Letsinger led New Covenant with 20 points, and Chace Smartt added 15 points.
Brian O’Keefe led McAuley with 19 points, including 13 in the fourth quarter, as McAuley cut the lead to 71-57 with 3:12 remaining.
Sam Maher scored 10 points for McAuley and Austin Metts had eight before both players fouled out.
