Lady Pirates fall to Miller in district championship game at Marionville

The 2018-19 basketball season has come to an end as the Ash Grove Lady Pirates lost to Miller in the Class 2, District 11 champi- onship game; and the boys lost to Verona in an open- ing round district game in Marionville last week.
On Feb. 22, Ash Grove fell behind 10-5 at the end of the first quarter and never really was able to gain any momentum, trailing 25-11 at the half. Miller scored an- other 16 points in the third quarter to increase their lead to 41-18 heading into
the fourth quarter. The Lady Pirates did outscore Miller 13-11 in the fourth quarter, but in the end lost, 52-31.
Khloe Moad led Ash Grove with nine points and nine rebounds in the loss.
The Lady Pirates took on Crane in the semifinals on Feb. 20 and after falling behind 34-25 at the half came out and took over the game in the second half. Ash Grove outscored Crane, 14-11 in the third quarter to cut the lead to 45-39. In the fourth quarter, Ash Grove only allowed Crane eight points, while scoring 15 points of their own to win
the game 54-52. Kennedi Climer and
Moad both led Ash Grove with 13 points each. Ash Grove ends their season with a 16-12 overall record.
Boys
On the boys side, the Pirates fell behind 13-2 to Verona in the first quar- ter and was never able to recover, losing 64-41 in an opening round district game
on Feb. 18. Ash Grove, who lost se-
nior leader Draven Zeigler early to an ankle injury, scored 12 points in the second quarter and trailed Verona, 27-14 at the half. A
26-point third quarter put the game out of reach, as the Pirates trailed 51-26 head- ing into the fourth quarter. Ash Grove did outscore Verona 15-13 in the final quarter but lost 64-41.
“A good team that was able to capitalize from our mistakes,” said head coach Josh Reece. “I was proud of the way we ended the season.”
Briley King led Ash Grove with 17 points and Devin Blake added 12 points in the loss. The Pirates wrapped up the season with a 5-21 overall record.