The Stanberry High School basketball teams, just one week after losing the first-ever Grand River Conference championship games at Trenton High School, had an opportunity to earn a measure of payback and respect for the GRC’s Western Division, with a second trip to THS.
This time, the Stanberry Bulldogs swept the doubleheader against the Trenton Bulldogs, in action heard on KTTN FM 92.3. The opener saw Stanberry stun a Trenton group that entered the game at 20-2, and ranked #4 in the MBCA’s Class 3 poll. Stanberry used strong interior defense to frustrate Trenton on the offensive end, and held off a late-game surge by THS to win 43-39. SHS is now 19-4 overall heading into the final week of the regular season.
Trenton sophomore guard Ainsley Tolson had a superb night with 26 points, but the home team found points from other sources difficult to come by, as the Lady Bulldogs lost for only the third time this season, and, for the first time, to a team below Class 4 (Stanberry is Class 2). Whitley Richman and Mykah Hurley both had four points, while Ashten Whitaker had a fourth-quarter three-point shot for Trenton. Stanberry was paced by 18 points from Madi Sager. Lily Osborn had nine, Jaden McCune eight, and Peyton Gage seven points.
Trenton Head Coach Brian Upton:
The Stanberry boys had slipped to #10 in the Class 2 MBCA poll after a buzzer-beating loss to Trenton in the GRC title game. With renewed focus and energy, the visiting Bulldogs won the rematch with Trenton, 63-51, improving to 19-4 on the season while Trenton drops to 16-7.
Brad Hailey led Stanberry with 24 points, with Cole Craig contributing 16 and Cory Luke 13 in the win. However, it was on the defensive end where Stanberry took control of the GRC crossover matchup. That defense kept Trenton bottled up throughout the night, with a 11 point final quarter giving Connor Cotton a 15-point night to pace the THS Bulldogs. Corbyn Guile had 11 points, while the Stanberry defense held Spencer Harris to a rare single-digit outing, with nine. That nine point game was matched by Dylan Harris.
Trenton Head Coach Jeremy Austin:
Trenton finishes the regular season with doubleheaders against Cameron and Hamilton. The Cameron games, at Trenton High School, will be the Bulldogs “Senior Night” games, Tuesday evening on KTTN FM 92.3. The games at Penney High School, on Thursday, will be carried live on Hot Country Z 101.7.
Elsewhere on Friday night, the #1 ranked Class 1 teams in the state continued their match towards districts, as the Mercer girls and Winston boys cruised to titles in the HDC Conference championship games. The Lady Cardinals beat North Harrison 68-28, while the Redbirds played their finest basketball of the season in a 80-34 win over Mercer. North Harrison took the boys third place game over East Harrison 63-33.
Other Friday night (February 10, 2017) scores were:
GIRLS:
East Buchanan 51, Lathrop 43
Mid-Buchanan 53, Penney 49
Braymer 56, Princeton 55 (Vivian Allen 18, Lindsey Batson 10 for PHS)
Lawson 45, West Platte 42
Gallatin 54, Albany 19
Stewartsville 56, West Nodaway 21
King City 47, Maysville 22
Macon 45, Brookfield 33
Osborn 38, Northeast Nodaway 32 (OT)
Meadville 54, Bucklin/Macon County 32 (Reagin Klein scores 1,000th career point)
Salisbury 50, Schuyler County 49
Scotland County 58, Paris 28
BOYS:
Lathrop 64, East Buchanan 53
Penney 54, Mid-Buchanan 51
Braymer 72, Princeton 61
Lawson 58, West Platte 31
Gallatin 55, Albany 38
Smithville 57, Cameron 43
Benton 66, Maryville 61 (OT)
Maysville 47, King City 44
Lafayette 81, LeBlond 49
Chillicothe 52, Savannah 31
Northeast Nodaway 55, Osborn 19
Brookfield 60, Macon 55
Meadville 64, Bucklin/Macon County 41
Knox County 58, North Shelby 36
Scotland County 64, Paris 58
Salisbury 70, Schuyler County 37
