AYERSVILLE – The Hilltop Lady Cadets were not going to be denied…not twice in a row, and certainly not at the Ayersville Holiday Tournament consolation game on December 28. The Ladies in Red spotted the Continental Lady Pirates an early five point advantage, then blew up to erase the deficit and go on to a 50-41 win to secure third place at the annual tournament.
The Lady Pirates kicked off the game by going on a 13-8 run, but the Lady Buccos went yucko from that point forward. Led by Hannah Bleikamp and her game-high 19 points, the Lady Cadets answered by hitting for 16 points in the second period while Continental had their worst output of the night with 7. The five point disadvantage had become a 24-20 halftime lead for Hilltop, a lead that they would add upon in the third and fourth periods for the win.
LeAnn Joost nailed 11 points in the pivot, with Destiny Denton adding 9 points. Kayla Settlemire had 4 points, and Kailey Creamer, Emily Armbruster, Cierra Grant and Bailey Funkhouser each had 2 points.
SCORING BY QUARTER:
Hilltop 8 16 15 11 – 50
Continental 13 7 13 8 – 41