The Chillicothe basketball teams, with a pair of wins on Thursday night, would have locked up spots in Saturday’s championship games at the Savannah Basketball Tournament.
In pool play, Chillicothe and Savannah’s girls had taken victories earlier in the week against Bishop LeBlond, making the Lady Hornets game with the Lady Savages a de-facto semifinal affair. The contest, between Midland Empire Conference rivals, proved to be lopsided, as Chillicothe raced out of the gates to a 22-7 lead after one quarter, and never looked back, in clock-running Savannah, 61-29. Future Fort Hays Tiger Whitney Clampitt had 14 points with Hannah Jones adding 11 for the now 3-0 Lady Hornets, moving Darren Smith’s team into the girl’s championship game, Saturday at 2:30 PM against Kansas City Staley, a 50-24 winner on Thursday night against Maryville. Savannah’s girls will play host to rival Maryville in the third place game, Friday night at 7:30.
The Chillicothe boys were overwhelmed early by a strong Staley Falcon team, falling 54-34 after being outscored 17-4 in the first eight minutes of action. The Hornets received a solid floor game from Cade Snyder, who hit for 18 points. Jack Willard added eight. The loss drops Tim Cool’s team into the boy’s third place game, Saturday at 1 o’clock, against Platte County, after the Pirates lost to Maryville on Thursday night, 64-53. Maryville and Staley will play for the boys championship on Saturday afternoon at 4 o’clock from the Savannah High School gymnasium.
