Pirates turn it on, knock off Sarcoxie at homecoming

Lady Pirates, Pirates both to compete in tournaments this week
 
The Ash Grove boys’ basketball team picked up two more wins last week to run their win total to 12 on the season.
The Pirates hosted Sarcoxie on Friday, Jan. 14, and came away with a 58-46 win on homecoming night.
Thanks to a frigid start, Ash Grove trailed 15-11 after the first quarter and 26-22 at the half. Halftime spelled the Pirates enough to get in gear. A 20-point third quarter helped the Pirate cause, as they took a 42-34 lead into the final quarter of play. In the fourth quarter, Ash Grove again topped their guest, outscoring Sarcoxie, 16-12 to secure the 12-point victory.
“We got off to a slow start shooting and were a little passive on the offensive end,” said head coach Grant Williamson. “We dug ourselves a bit of a hole getting down 12 in the second quarter, but our guys turned up the defensive energy which sparked us on the offensive end, as well. Our guys really came together in the face of adversity, and I was proud of how they represented themselves. The atmosphere was great and it’s always nice to get a win on homecoming night.”
Brock Mooneyham paced Ash Grove with 19 points, Sam Moreland added 14 points and Brady Nicholson contributed 12 points in the win.
The Pirates opened the week by traveling to Diamond on Tuesday, Jan. 11 and came home with a 23-point, 64-41 win.
Ash Grove jumped out to an 18-7 first quarter lead and stretched that lead to 41 to 22 by the half. The Pirates added another 19 pints in the third quarter to go up 60-28, before cooling off and scoring just four points in the fourth quarter.
“I thought we played with great defensive energy which translated to offensive points for us,” said Williamson. “We also executed well on the offensive end of the floor. It was a great bounce back game and always is nice to start conference play off with a win.”
Nicholson led Ash Grove with 22 points and Moreland kicked in 21 points in the win.
The Pirates are now 12-3 on the season and were scheduled to travel to Spokane this week to take part in the Spokane Invitational Tournament. The tournament was set to start on Monday and end on Saturday.
Girls
The Lady Pirates did not have any games last week and are 7-6 on the season. They were scheduled to travel to Marionville to take part in the Marionville Lady Comet Classic. That tournament will run from Monday through Saturday.