Kirkwood Girls Can't Catch Jeff City in Tourney Title Game

The Kirkwood girls basketball team never trailed in the first half on Saturday against Jefferson City in the championship game of the Queen of Hearts Tournament.

But the Pioneers led only once in the second half, falling to the top-seeded Jays, 54-48, at Villa Duchesne.

"It has been hit-and-miss for us when it comes to quick starts," Kirkwood coach Brad Sutterer said. "Today we were getting some good looks, and also scoring in transition early in the game. I felt we were still getting the steals later on, but we were not converting. We only scored seven points in the second quarter and six in the third."

Kirkwood, which was seeded third, scored the game's first eight points and had a 14-2 advantage at one point in the first quarter.

Jefferson City would cut the deficit to six at 15-9 by the end of the quarter and it was a one-point game at halftime after a buzzer beater 3-pointer by Jeff City’s Lauren Coons.

Shelby Mustain scored on an offensive rebound in the opening seconds of the third quarter to give Jefferson City its first lead of the game. Kirkwood had its only lead of the second half, and last lead of the game, at 26-25 early in the second half.

Junior Julia Mullendore scored on a put-back just before the buzzer sounded at the end of the third quarter and the Pioneers trailed 30-28 going into the fourth quarter.

Kirkwood had to play the first couple of minutes of the fourth quarter without junior point guard and team-leader Lianna Doty. The standout player suffered a nasty cut diving for a ball late in the third quarter.

While she was being attended to in the training room, the Jays extended the two-point lead to seven.

The Pioneers were in catch-up mode for the rest of the game. They could not get closer than five points as the Jays spent the fourth quarter at the free-throw line. Jefferson City attempted 22 free throws in the final quarter and made 15 of them.

"We were pressing and I thought they were getting a little tired," Sutterer said. "But we had to put them on the line and they were able to make their free throws."

Kirkwood junior guard Kalah Martin, who had scored 22 points in the first half in a four-point win over second-seeded Cape Notre Dame in the semifinals Friday, was held scoreless in the first half Saturday. But she scored 10 fourth-quarter points to keep things interesting for Kirkwood.

"I thought all of the girls played hard today and we did a pretty good job on the boards," Sutterer said. "It was a good tournament overall for us. We beat Whitfield and a ranked Cape Notre Dame team. Jefferson City plays an extremely tough schedule, just like we do, and they were just a little better today."

The win was the 10th in a row for Jefferson City, which was led in scoring by its 6-foot-1 post player Mustain. The junior had 16 points. Junior Sadie Theroff added 13 for the Jays, including six free throws in the fourth quarter.

Kirkwood, which has four girls averaging in double figures, had a balanced attack again Saturday. Martin led the way with 12 while Doty and junior Dajae Williams added 10 each. Mullendore chipped in with nine for the Pioneers, who fell to 13-7.

Cape Notre Dame defeated Villa, 46-42 in the third place game.