Lady Pirates continue winning— knock off Greenfield, Diamond

Pirates defeat Greenfield, Spokane; look to annual Walnut Grove Holiday Classic this weekend
 
The Ash Grove girls basketball team played two games last week winning both of them in decided fashion.
The Lady Pirates hosted Greenfield on Friday, Dec. 12 and won easily 61-30.
Ash Grove led 17-8 after the first quarter and 33-17 by halftime. In the second half, the Lady Pirates stepped up their defense allowing just 12 total points for the half. Ash grove outscored the Lady Wildcats 14-8 in the third quarter and 14-5 in the fourth quarter.
Bristol Lathrop added another double-double to her resume, going for 20 points and 10 rebounds. Millison Sapp added 16 points in the win.
Ash Grove started the week by traveling to Diamond on Tuesday, Dec. 9 and coming home with a 70-42 victory.
The Lady Pirates jumped out to a 20-11 first quarter lead and never looked back, adding another 18 points in the second quarter to lead 38-22 at the half. Ash Grove continued to light up the scoreboard in the third quarter, ripping off another 15 points to increase their lead to 53-29. In the final quarter of play, the Lady Pirates scored 17 points and allowed 13 points to win the game by 28 points.
Lathrop led with 24 points, Sapp added 23 points and Brooke Nicolson and Allie Goodsell each ended the game with 10 points apiece.
The Lady Pirates are now 5-1 on the season and were scheduled to play at Clever on Monday and then will travel to Walnut Grove Saturday to play in the Walnut Grove Holiday Classic.

Boys basketball
The Ash Grove High School boys basketball team hosted and defeated Greenfield on Friday, 71-39.
It was a fairly close first half with the Pirates outscoring the Wildcats 12-8 in the first quarter and 18-16 in the second quarter to take a 30-24 halftime lead. The second half was a different story for Ash Grove, as the Pirates ran up and down the floor, almost scoring at will. Ash Grove outscored Greenfield 19-8 in the third quarter and 22-7 in the fourth quarter to win the game by 32 points.
Kyler Reece led the way with 21 points, Jaden Hance added 14 points, and Easton Rust ended the game with 13 points.
“We struggled to convert opportunities in the first half and credit to Greenfield for that,” said Head Coach Grant Williamson. “We refocused at halftime and really played well on both ends the second half to pull away.”
The Pirates started their week by hosting Spokane on Tuesday and running away with an easy 72-55 victory.
Ash Grove led 24-18 after the first quarter and 37-31 at the half. In the third quarter, Ash Grove outscored Spokane 16-13 to increase their lead to 53-44. The Pirates closed out the game with a good fourth quarter, hitting for 19 points, while allowing just 11 points to close out the win.
Reece led Ash Grove with 17 points, Rust added 15 points and Harison Thompson had 12 points in the victory.
“We did what we wanted to offensively and throughout the middle portion of the game‚.” said Williamson. “We just couldn’t quite finish those opportunities. However, we found a way to get stops on the defensive end which kept us afloat long enough to find ourselves on the right side of those offensive opportunities again.”
Ash Grove is 4-2 on the season and were scheduled to host Sparta last night before traveling to Southwest Washburn tomorrow night and Walnut Grove on Saturday to compete in the Walnut Grove Holiday Classic.