College Heights girls advance to third straight district title game

Feb. 25—For the third straight season, the College Heights girls basketball team will play for a district championship plaque.

The top-seeded Cougars' (22-2) rolled into the contest with a double-digit lead at the break and coasted to a 49-34 victory over fourth-seeded Wheaton on Wednesday night in the Class 2 District 12 semifinal game at Ozark Christian College.

"This is what we have been working for all season," College Heights coach John Blankenship said. "We are excited to be back. We know we have a tough matchup (in the championship game) against Greenfield on Friday. This is what we have been working toward, and we are excited to be back."

Second-seeded Greenfield knocked off sixth-seeded Liberal 53-14 in the other semifinal game. Friday's district final game will tip at 7:30 p.m. at the Cardinal Dome in Webb City. It will be a matchup between two state-ranked teams from Class 2.

"We haven't played them," Blankenship said. "They're athletic and quick. They like to get up-and-down the floor like we do. They run a nice full-court press. It should be a battle, should be a good game."

The boys championship game at 5:30 pits top-seeded Liberal against College Heights.

Both teams were evenly matched in the first quarter until Grace Bishop finished with a runner inside and hit a corner trey at the 0:04 mark to give College Heights a 15-10 lead. The Cougars carried over that momentum into the second quarter, scoring six unanswered points to pull ahead 21-10 with 5:42 left in the first half.

Lainey Lett hit one of two free throws to hand College Heights a 28-16 lead at the break. The Cougars defense held the Bulldogs at bay, limiting Wheaton to only 18 points over the final 16 minutes.

"We made a couple of defensive adjustments at halftime," Blankenship said. "Lainey came out and did a great job guarding their post player. We had some good defensive rotations on the backside. That allowed us to get in our transition game, which was very effective tonight."

Bishop paced College Heights with 18 points. Lett added nine points while Catie Secker chipped in eight.

"Same thing with Grace," Blankenship said. "She's so consistent for us. She played great defense on one of their guards. She shoots the ball so well and she got out in transition, got some easy baskets for us. She's such a stabilizer on both ends of the floor for us."

The final result may not have been what Wheaton (10-13) desired, but the future of the Bulldogs looks promising. Wheaton graduates only one senior in 2021 with Giovanna Hinojosa set to walk across the stage in May.

Monica Hinojosa scored a team-high 12 points to lead the Bulldogs.

"I was proud of them," Wheaton coach Jessica Lombard said. "They came out ready to fight, ready to play hard. As a coach, that's all you can expect. We have prepared ourselves this year. We have played for championships in tournaments. Every year we are getting better. I really think next year is going to be our year to peak."

Following an 11-day layoff due to winter weather, Blankenship was more than pleased his team shook off the rust so seamlessly.

"We played well down the stretch," he said. "We haven't played for 11 days. We only had a few practices. I was a little concerned about that tonight. I thought overall the girls did well."