Ash Grove Lady Pirates knock off Sparta, Buffalo; win Marionville opener

The Ash Grove High School girls basketball team picked up two more wins last week, while the Pirates fell in a close game to Fordland.
Girls
The Lady Pirates hosted Sparta on Thursday, Jan. 16 and came away with a 58-46 victory.
Ash Grove led 17-14 after the first quarter and increased their lead to 31-24 by halftime. Sparta outscored Ash Grove 11-10 in the third quarter but still trailed 41-35 heading into
the final quarter of play. In the fourth quarter, the Lady Pirates put up 17 points, while holding Sparta to 11 points to win the game by 12.
Emma Eagleburger led Ash Grove with 17 points; Kennedi Climer and Khloe Moad each had 13 points and Brittany Gilliland ended the game with 11 points.
Ash Grove traveled to Buffalo on Monday, Jan. 13, and came home with a 45-43 win.
The Lady Bison jumped out to an 11-5 first quarter lead, but saw that lead disappear when Ash Grove outscored Buffalo 17-12 to take a 24-23 halftime lead.
The Lady Pirates increased their lead in the third quarter by outscoring Buffalo 13-9 to lead 37-31 at the end of the quarter. Buffalo fought back in the fourth quarter, outscoring Ash Grove 12-8, but still fell by two points, 45-43.
Eagleburger led Ash Grove with 14 points in the win.
With the wins, the Lady Pirates move to 10-4 on the season and will be in Marionville this week to take part in the Lady Comet Classic. Ash Grove was scheduled to play against Purdy in an opening round
game on Monday night.
Boys
The Pirates played just one game last week, as they traveled to Fordland on Tuesday, Jan. 14 and came home with an 81-72 loss.
Fordland led 19-18 after the first quarter, but the Pirates fought back and outscored Fordland 23-19 in the second quarter to take a 41-38 halftime lead. Fordland doubled up Ash Grove in the third quarter 18-9 to retake the lead, 56- 50. In the fourth quarter both teams shot the ball well, but Fordland put up 25 points, while the Pirates scored 22 points.
“I think we continue to keep getting better and that was on display tonight with our offensive outburst,” said head coach Grant Wil- liamson. “I give credit to Fordland for attacking the basket and forcing us into some foul trouble. The loss stings, but I was proud of how we competed.”
Sam Moreland led Ash Grove with 27 points; Cody Raney added 21 points and Brock Mooneyham ended the game with 12 points.
With the loss, Ash Grove falls to 1-11 on the season and will travel to Stockton this week to take part in the Stockton Tournament. The tournament was scheduled to start on Monday and will conclude on Saturday.