Ash Grove Lady Pirates defeat Diamond, lose to Sarcoxie, in up-and-down week

The Ash Grove boys and girls basketball team each had a pair of game last week, with the Lady Pirates defeating Diamond but lost to Sarcoxie, and the boys lost to both Sarcoxie, and then Diamond—on homecoming night.

           Girls
On the girls side, Ash Grove hosted Diamond on Thursday, Jan. 30, and won the game, 72-16.
The Lady Pirates led 27-6 after the first quarter and never looked back, increasing their lead to 50-10 by halftime. Ash Grove added another 16 points in the third quarter and then shut it down and scored just four points in the fourth quarter.
Kennedi Climer led Ash Grove with 18 points; Khloe Moad added 17 points and Emma McClelland and Briley Bagley each had 12 points in the win.
Ash Grove opened the week by traveling to Sarcoxie on Monday, Jan. 27 and lost, 73-55.
Sarcoxie led 26-14 after the first quarter and increased their lead to 44-34 by halftime. The Lady Pirates were able to outscore Sarcoxie, 13-10 in the third quarter to cut the lead to 54-47, but Sarcoxie put the game away in the fourth quarter by outscoring Ash Grove 19-8 to win the game.
Climer led the Lady Pirates with 15 points; Moad and Emma Eagleburger each had 11 points in the loss.
Ash Grove is now 14-5 on the season and were scheduled to host Pierce City on Monday night before traveling to Miller tomorrow night.

         Boys
For the boys, the Pirates hosted but lost to Diamond, 64-54 on Friday, Jan. 31 and traveled to and lost to Sarcoxie, 88-53, a few days prior on Tuesday, Jan. 28
Sarcoxie took an early 21-13 first quarter lead and extended that lead to 51-34 by the half. Sarcoxie outscored Ash Grove 24-11 in the third quarter to increase their lead to 76-45. Sarcoxie added 12 more points in the fourth quarter, while the Pirates put up eight points.
“Sarcoxie is a really good team,” said head coach Grant Williamson. “I thought we executed really well on the offensive end. Ultimately our defense wasn’t quite where it needed to be. They were a step quicker and it showed on the scoreboard.”
Sam Moreland led Ash Grove with 21 points; Brock Mooneyham added 13 points and Nate Trammell ended the game with 10 points.
Ash Grove is now 1-15 on the season and were scheduled to host Pierce City last night before traveling to Marion C. Early tomorrow night and Miller on Friday night.