The Milan Lady Wildcats and Putnam County Lady Midgets ended their basketball seasons on Monday night, falling in the quarterfinals of the Class 2, District 7 tournament at Salisbury High School.
The Milan girls, in the first game of the tournament, put up a spirited fight against #1 seed Westran, but came up short in a 52-41 final score. The Lady Hornets used a a third-quarter surge to build breathing room against the Lady ‘Cats, then cruised to the win in the final quarter. In her final game in a Milan uniform, senior Sam DeRyke led Milan with 10 points, as Milan finishes the season, its first as a member of the Grand River Conference, with a record of 11-15.
Westran will take on the host Salisbury Lady Panthers in the first semifinal on Wednesday night (6 PM). Salisbury shut down an injury-ravaged Putnam County squad, winning 33-23. The Lady Midgets lack of firepower is easily attributed to the late-season loss of leading scorer Jade Varner, who missed the district game due to injury, coupled with an injury suffered by Callie DeVore in the district game, shelving her for the entire second half. Putnam County ends the campaign at 13-12.
The Northeast Lady Bearcats took down LaPlata’s upset bid to win 59-32 while the Schuyler County Lady Rams beat Marceline, 61-42. The Lady Tigers leading scorer, in their season finale, was forward Elaine Ewigman with 17 points. The Cairo girls will play Schuyler County on Wednesday night at 7:30.
Boys quarterfinals from Salisbury begin on Tuesday night with the 4:30 match between the #1 seeded, fourth-ranked Salisbury Panthers against Westran, followed by the #5 seed Milan Wildcats challenging the #4 seed LaPlata Bulldogs at 6. That game will be carried live on KTTN FM 92.3, with Dennis Stephenson on the play-by-play call.
At 7:30, the #2 seed Marceline Tigers battle Cairo, followed by the Putnam County Midgets, owners of the #3 seed at districts, drawing former Tri-Rivers Conference rival Schuyler County at 9 o’clock.
