St. James snapped its two-game girls basketball losing streak with a victory Thursday at St. Clair High School, hitting the 20-win mark in the process.
The Lady Tigers (20-2, 3-2) turned a three-point halftime advantage at halftime into a 73-58 win over St. Clair.
St. James and Pacific (both 3-2) are one game behind Sullivan and Hermann (both 4-1) in the FRC standings heading into the final week of league play. Union took a 3-1 record into Friday’s contest at Owensville.
“I was really pleased with the way we played. The effort was there all night,” said St. Clair Head Coach Jena Carroll. “It was just another well-played game that proves how tough the Four Rivers Conference truly is.”
Alicia York led the Lady Bulldogs with a season-high 18 points to go with six rebounds.
“York did an outstanding job of taking control on offense and was a major factor in keeping us in the game by the end of the first quarter,” Carroll said. “She had 12 of her 18 points within the first eight minutes of play.”
Karissa Hoffman added 16 points and 11 rebounds.
Allison Hinson collected eight points and four assists.
Kayla Klenke and Sam Deason both scored five points.
Katelyn Guehne netted four points. Anna Reed had two points.
St. James’ Ashlee Marlatt hit six three-pointers, three in the first quarter, and finished with 24 points.
St. Clair (10-11, 1-4) trailed 24-17 after one quarter, but outscored St. James 22-18 in the second quarter to trail 42-39 at halftime.
“We had to make some adjustments in the first quarter with our defense because they caught fire behind the three-point line. They had four threes in the first quarter,” Carroll said.
“We did an outstanding job of handling their pressure and working for the easy finish. In the second quarter, we continued to push offensively and Karissa stepped up big and put down 12 of her 16 points. We did a good job of getting to the offensive boards to allow for successful second opportunities. We really worked hard at both ends to close the gap to three points at halftime.”
The Lady Tigers put the game away with a 31-19 run in the second half.
“During the second half, we played just as hard and gave just as much effort as we did in the first, but we ran out of steam offensively and missed a few key shots.”
St. Clair hosts New Haven Monday while St. James visits Owensville.
Hermann-New Haven
Hermann pushed itself into a first-place tie in the FRC with a 40-33 home win Thursday over New Haven.
The Lady Bearcats (19-4) trailed 25-22 after three quarters, but outscored New Haven in the final eight minutes, 18-8.
“It wasn’t pretty, but we did just enough in the fourth quarter to get the win,” said Hermann Head Coach Todd Anderson.
Karinne Lane flirted with a triple double for Hermann, finishing with 18 points, 13 rebounds, eight steals and four assists.
Jamie Gleeson added 15 points and seven rebounds.
Kali Stiers scored three points. Tesla Ruediger and Hayley Stiers both had two points.
Rachel Steinhoff paced the Lady Shamrocks (13-10, 0-5) with 20 points.
Kayla Meyer finished with six points. Stephanie Scheer scored four. Stephanie Gerling had three points.
Hermann, Sullivan, Union, Pacific and St. James are still alive for the FRC title heading into the final week of conference play.
“Going into the season, I think all of the coaches in the conference knew it would be tough for any one team to get through the conference schedule undefeated,” Anderson said. “In my opinion, this is the strongest the conference has been from top to bottom in the 15 years I’ve been at Hermann. Every team is capable of beating any other team in the conference on any given night. It’s fun going into the last week of the conference season with so many teams having a chance to win the conference.”
Hermann hosts Pacific Monday while New Haven visits St. Clair.
