Crest High’s boys and girls squads were able to erase the sting of disappointing tournament losses earlier in the week by steamrolling their foes Thursday in the War on 54 Midseason Tournament Seminfinals.
The Lady Lancers broke things open with a 12-0 second quarter run in what became a 41-26 win over Fort Scott’s junior varsity.
Meanwhile, the Crest boys jumped out to a 13-2 lead to set the tone in a 68-29 win over St. Paul.
Both teams were to wrap up tournament play Friday, with the girls facing Anderson County, while Crest’s boys taking on Cherryvale. (Results were unavailable by deadline.)
Lady Lancer head coach Steve Zimmerman said Crest entered Thursday’s semifinal round still a bit in the dumps after a loss to host Iola on Tuesday.
“We definitely needed a bounceback game,” he said.
The doldrums extended into the first quarter, with Crest nursing a 9-7 lead.
Karlee Boots and Cursten Allen helped the cause in the second period. Boots scored six points, while Allen drained a 3-pointer as Crest extended its lead to 21-7 by halftime.
“We’re still coming out a little flat offensively,” Zimmerman said.
No worries. Crest upped the lead to 32-15 by the end of the third quarter to take full control.
Boots wound up with 12 points to lead the way. Allen scored nine, including a pair of 3-pointers.
“It was good to see Cursten knock down those 3s,” Zimmerman said. “Aylee (Beckmon) is playing better, even with her sore knee. Jaycee Schmidt really came alive late in the end.”
Mary Maloon scored 12 for Fort Scott.
CREST boys head coach Dakotah Sporing noted Crest had a little added motivation, aside from its loss to Iola.
“I know the guys wanted to win the Iola game pretty badly,” Sporing said.
More importantly for him was to see how Crest played against a St. Paul squad that featured a roster of only five.
