Pirates, Lady Pirates host, knock off Marion C. Early squads

Ash Grove basketballers lose to Chadwick, Billings earlier in week, boys to host Spokane Friday
 
The Ash Grove High School girls basketball team traveled to Marion C. Early on Friday, Jan. 9 and came home with a 60-43 victory.
After a very low scoring first quarter in which saw the Lady Pirates take a 5-4 lead, the two teams both shot the ball better in the second quarter, with Ash Grove going into the half leading 17-15. The Lady Pirates found their shooting touch in the second half, as Ash Grove outscored the Lady Panthers, 17-10 to increase their lead to 34-25 by the end of the quarter. In the fourth quarter, Ash Grove once again erupted, scoring 21 points, their defense was good, holding MCE to just seven points to get the 17-point victory.
Brooke Nicholson paced Ash Grove with 17 points, while Millison Sapp added 15 points in the win.
The Lady Pirates started the week by traveling to Chadwick on Monday, Jan. 5, and fell to the Lady Cardinals 52-40.
Chadwick held an 8-6 lead at the end of the first  quarter, but Ash Grove battled back in the second quarter, outscoring the Lady Cardinals 14-10 to take a 20-18 lead into the half. The third quarter saw the two teams change leads and buckets as Chadwick was able to outscore the Lady Pirates 14-12 to tie the game 32-32 heading into the final quarter of play. In the fourth Chadwick took over the scoring, hitting for 20 points, while their defense allowed just eight points to Ash Grove.
Sapp led Ash Grove with 18 points and Bristol Lathrop added 10 points in the loss.
The Lady Pirates are now 9-4 on the season and were scheduled to play against Blue Eye on Monday night before hosting Spokane on Friday.

Boys basketball
The Pirates basketball team defeated Marion C. Early, 69-49 on Friday at Marion C. Early.
Ash Grove opened the week by hosting Billings on Tuesday, Jan. 6 and fell to the Wildcats, 69-39.
Billings led 14-10 after the first and pushed that lead to 26-18 by the half. In the third quarter, Billings added another 19 points, while Ash Grove could only manage 10 points to fall behind 45-28. The Wildcats continued with their hot hand, torching the net for 24 points in the fourth quarter to secure the victory.
Kyler Reece and Easton Rust both ended the game with 10 points for the Pirates.
“We played pretty well defensively in the first half,” said head coach Grant Williamson. “But Billings was able to wear us down as the game progressed and took advantage down the stretch to pull away.”
Ash Grove is now 8-6 on the season and were scheduled to travel to Diamond last night before hosting Spokane on Friday.