The Milan Wildcats traded blows with the North Andrew Cardinals for four quarters on Saturday night, with the ‘Cats, by the time the back-and-forth battle of elite Grand River Conference teams has ended, the Wildcats repeating as GRC champions with a 64-61 victory. The game, broadcast on Hot Country Z 101.7, was part of a 16-game day-long “Showcase” hosted by King City High School.
Milan (20-3, 8-0) was paced by Hunter Shaw’s 15 points, including an emphatic, gym rattling dunk that gave the Wildcats a six point lead with three minutes to play. Dre Morehead added 13, with Eddie Gonzalez and Ryan Dabney 11 points each for the Wildcats. North Andrew (15-8, 6-2) was paced by 25 points from Tanner McDaniel, with Jaden Baker scoring 17.
The GRC girls title game saw Worth County’s scoring balance and outside shooting prowess take down the Eastern Division champions from Milan, as the Lady Tigers out of Grant City, MO claimed a 68-54 win on Hot Country Z 101.7. The game, ending Trenton High School’s three-year long run as GRC champs, saw 22 points tallied by Worth County’s Regan Allee, with both Anna Gladstone and Kaylee McElvain scoring 16. Milan had a superlative effort from sophomore Cady Pauley, with a game-high 33 points, but struggled to find consistent scoring from the supporting cast, falling to 15-7 overall, and 7-1 in GRC competition.
Two other games, both third place contests, were aired from the King City “New Gym” on Saturday on 101.7 FM, with the Princeton boys grabbing their 20th win of the season, in a dominating 65-35 win over Pattonsburg. Preston Thomas had 22 points for the Tigers, with Austin Kelly scoring 14, and Colton Estes 13 points. Pattonsburg had 14 points from Carter Crone.
The girls third place game went to Stanberry, in a 60-37 takedown of Trenton. Stanberry outscored the defending GRC champions in the second half 29-9 in grabbing the program’s 15th win of the season. Sydney Mattson placed a dominant floor game for Stanberry with 26 points, with Lexi Craig adding 11. Trenton (13-9, 5-3) had 14 points from Maci Moore with Lexi Whitaker scoring 11.
Other final scores from Saturday’s GRC Showcase at King City:
GIRLS 5TH: Polo 33, Albany 30
BOYS 5TH: Stanberry 66, Gallatin 55
GIRLS 7TH: Braymer 49, Princeton 39
BOYS 7TH: Putnam County 74, St. Joseph Christian 71
GIRLS 9TH: North Andrew 55, Putnam County 43
BOYS 9TH: Albany 48, Polo 28
GIRLS 11TH: Maysville 37, King City 29
BOYS 11TH: South Harrison 61, Worth County 43
GIRLS 13TH: Pattonsburg 58, Gallatin 47
BOYS 13TH: Braymer 37, Maysville 36
GIRLS 15TH: St. Joseph Christian 54, South Harrison 40
BOYS 15TH: Trenton 64, King City 42
The Grundy R-V girls won the HDC Conference Tournament championship over Tri-County on Saturday night by a score of 70-40. Mercer captured girls third place over North Harrison 42-36. Winston won the boys championship over Mercer 41-29, with North Harrison’s boys taking third place over Grundy R-V 66-45.
