WILLARD, Mo. -- The Walnut Grove Lady Tigers, seeded first in the Class 1 District 5 Tournament taking place at Willard, advanced to the championship game on Saturday with a commanding 69-53 trouncing of the Lockwood Lady Tigers.
Walnut Grove used a strong outside shooting game and a tough full court press to roll to the sixteen point district semifinal victory. The game was close enough in the first quarter, as a Lockwood rally late in the first quarter brought the fifth seeded Lockwood team within 14-8 after the first eight minutes.
Walnut Grove would turn up the defensive intensity in the second quarter however, as the Lady Tigers' full court press forced several Lockwood turnovers and led to easy baskets for Walnut Grove. The strong outside shooting of Heather Harman and Lexi Harman led the Walnut Grove offense in the second quarter, and a 19-12 run gave Walnut Grove a 33-20 lead at halftime.
Walnut Grove would take command of the game in the third quarter and show why they were seeded number one in the district, as the Lady Tigers took what had been a somewhat tenuous 13 point halftime lead into a commanding lead that was over twenty points several times in the third and fourth quarters.
Lockwood would continue to fight in an attempt to mount a comeback, as Madison Coose and Olivia Finley had strong offensive games for the Lockwood Tigers. Lockwood would be unable to overcome the Walnut Grove lead, and WGHS cruised to the 69-53 win to advance to Saturday’s 5:00 p.m. final.
Lexi Harman had 13 points for WGHS, and Heather Harman led WGHS with 20 points.
For Lockwood, Madison Coose had 10 points, Alexis Byrnes 13, and Olivia Finley added 16.
