Lady Pirates best Pierce City, Mansfield with solid performances from starters

The Ash Grove High School basketball teams both played two games each last
week, with the girls going 2-0, while the boys lost both of their games.
Girls
The Lady Pirates opened up the Walnut Grove Holiday Classic on Saturday, Dec. 21 in Walnut Grove by knocking off Pierce City 67-25.
Khloe Moad led Ash Grove with 20 points; Emma Eagleburger added 17 points
and Kennedi Climer had 15 points in the win.
Ash Grove traveled to Mansfield on Thursday, Dec. 19, and came home with a 72-51 victory.
Climer led the Lady Pi- rates with 20 points; Brittany Gilliland had 16 points, Moad added 12 points and Riley Hammons ended the game with 10 points.
Ash Grove is now 4-2 on the season and will continue in the Walnut Grove Holiday Classic on Thursday, Dec. 26.
Boys
The Pirates hosted Sparta on Tuesday, Dec. 17 but
lost by one point, 38-37 in a nail biter.
Sparta jumped out to a 16-13 lead after the first quarter, both teams scored nine points each in the second quarter, but Ash Grove would enter the half, trailing 25-22. Sparta outscored Ash Grove 8-2 in the third quarter to increase their lead to 32- 24 at the end of the quarter. The Pirates outscored Sparta 13-5 in the fourth quarter, but it was just a little short, as they fell 38-37. Sam Moreland led Ash Grove with 20 points.
“Our guys competed well start to finish,” said head coach Grant Williamson.
“We hit a scoring lull there in the third quarter, but we hung in there and managed to battle back through some adversity. We work on getting three stops in a row as many times as possible each game and we finished tonight with nine stops in a row which is a testament to our guys’ grit. We gave ourselves a chance at the end and unfortunately came up just short.”
Ash Grove hosted Crane on Friday, Dec. 20 but lost, 78-42. The Pirates are now 1-7 on the season and will take part in the Blue and Gold Tournament in Spring- field, at 8 p.m. Thursday, Dec. 26 against Rogersville.