The top-seeded Milan Lady Wildcats, playing on their home court as a result of COVID-19 changes to Missouri’s postseason grid, defeated the Brookfield Lady ‘Dogs on Saturday afternoon, 41-34, winning the Class 3, District 16 championship in a game broadcast on KTTN FM 92.3.
All of Milan’s points came from senior Jordyn Gray (21 points) and junior Cady Pauley (20 points), with Brookfield paced by 12 points from Ella Daugherty. Milan trailed by one point at the half (21-20), but utilized a 13-7 edge in the third quarter to build a lead, holding off their former Tri-Rivers Conference rival over the final eight minutes.
The win gives Milan’s girls program its first district title since 2012, when the Lady ‘Cats beat rival Putnam County in a final played at Schuyler County High School. This year, as a Class 3 school, Milan will head the opposite direction from many of the school’s previous postseason journeys, as the Lady ‘Cats travel to Lawson High School to battle the District 15 champion Lady Cardinals in a sectional showdown on Wednesday night at 6 o’clock, with the game to be aired live on Hot Country Z 101.7, KGOZ from Tune-In Radio and from the KGOZ streaming option from KTTNSports.com. Lawson beat KCI Conference rival East Buchanan, 40-35 on Friday night, in the District 15 title game.
The Grundy R-V boys basketball program, on Friday night, won the Class 1, District 14 championship, with a convincing 74-60 triumph over HDC rival North Harrison at the Ketcham Community Center in Trenton. Corbin Axtell paced the Panthers with 22 points, with Cooper Lewis adding 16, Caden Gann 15, and Zack Cross 11 points. The win sends Grundy R-V on the road for Class 1 sectional action on Tuesday night at 6 o’clock, playing an Orrick squad that lost in the same sectional round a year ago to the Princeton Tigers. Tuesday’s game from Orrick High School will be broadcast live on KTTN FM 92.3, with pregame at 5:45, and tip-time slated for 6 o’clock. In the loss to Grundy, North Harrison had 24 points from Brett Emig and 15 from Wade Briggs.
The Mercer Lady Cardinals won the Class 1, District 14 title at the Ketcham Center, 37-19 over North Harrison. Junior center Tori Meinecke led Mercer with 19 points, with Maddy Fisher contributing eight. The Lady Shamrocks had seven points from Emma Craig and six from Jayleigh Robins.
The South Harrison boys won the Class 3, District 16 final against Milan, on the home floor of the Wildcats, on Friday night, 57-51. The win sends the Bulldogs to Kansas City, and a sectional meeting with St. Pius the Tenth on Tuesday night at 6. South Harrison, in the district final, was paced by 17 points from Brayden Sunderman, 13 from Luke Karns, 12 from Austin Lasher, and 10 points from Justice Cook. Milan had 21 points from senior forward Dominic Dabney, with Axel Pagan scoring 12.
Friday night’s district finals (one from Milan and two from NCMC) were broadcast on KTTN FM 92.3.
