Lady Hawks Fall In Tourney Championship To Monroe City
The (2) Clopton Lady Hawks weren’t able to make it five consecutive titles as they fell to the undefeated state-ranked Monroe City Lady Panthers in the championship of the 22nd Annual Clopton Tournament on Friday, Jan. 5.
Clopton took second place with the 56-37 loss and picked up big wins over (7) Wright City, 90-21, in the opening round and (3) Elsberry, 47-26, in the championship semifinal.
This was the third year Clopton has faced Monroe City in the title game. The Lady Panthers jumped out of the gates hot as Jada Summers nailed a couple of buckets and a pair of free throws in the first quarter and Emilie Okenfuss contributed a couple of field goals and a three-pointer to help the Lady Panthers to a 16-11 lead after the first.
Clopton came to life toward the end of the first as Jillian Lockard knocked down six points and got help with buckets from Kaitlyn Kuntz and Calynn Lockard.
Monroe City expanded their lead int he second quarter while demonstrating their suffocating defense. Summers put up four more points and Delanie Okenfuss added a trey as the Lady Panthers held Clopton to just four points. The lone basket came from Caragan Lockard and the team got free throws from Megan Harrelson and Allison Hunter.
Clopton went to the break down by 12 points, 27-15.
Despite four baskets from Calynn Lockard and one from Kuntz in the third, the Lady Panthers outpaced Clopton 14-10 in the third quarter.
Four Monroe City players contributed points in the third with another two baskets from Summers, a field goal and a three-pointer from Emilie Okenfuss, another trey from Delanie Okenfuss and a pair of free throws from Riley Quinn. Clopton entered the final stanza down by 16 points, 41-25.
Monroe City outscored Clopton 15-12 in the final quarter to seal the win.
Scoring for Clopton Jillian Lockard, 14; Calynn Lockard, 10; Kaitlyn Kuntz, 7; Caragan Lockard, 4; Megan Harrelson, 1; Allison Hunter, 1.
Jada Summers led the way for Monroe City with 27 points and was named the All-Tournament MVP by members of the press. Jillian Lockard and Kaitlyn Kuntz were also named to the team for their performances over the past week.
Championship Semifinal
Clopton defeated Elsberry handily, 47-26, in the championship semifinal on Wednesday.
Scoring for Clopton: Kuntz, 22; Jillian Lockard, 11; Caragan Lockard, 6; Harrelson, 4; Calynn Lockard, 2; Hunter, 2.
Clopton hosts Silex on Thursday, Jan. 11
Hawks Drop Consolation To Winfield
The Clopton boys stayed close into the fourth quarter, but dropped the Consolation Game of their home tournament 56-46 to the Winfield Warriors.
The Hawks started slow from the field, hitting only once from the field over the opening eight minutes.
Clopton stayed close as Landon Hall hit on four shots from the free throw line in the first quarter.
The Hawks pulled within a point in the second quarter, outscoring the Warriors 12-9 in the quarter as Shawn Yates drained a three point shot and Hall increased his game total to nine points.
Landon scored eight more points in the third quarter as the teams played even and the Hawks trailed 36-35 heading to the fourth quarter.
Clopton briefly took the lead in the early stages of the fourth, but Winfield drained a pair of three pointers to outpace the Hawks 20-10 over the final eight minutes.
Hall finished the game with twenty points to earn the Community State Bank/TribCast Player of the Game. Landon was also named to the All-Tournament team, scoring 55 points in three games.
The Hawks advanced to the Consolation Game with a 46-43 victory over Silex in the old gym on Thursday.
The difference came in the first eight minutes when Clopton jumped out to a 15-6 lead with six points from Hall and five from Parker Edmiston.
The Clopton defense nearly held the Owls to just three points in the quarter, but Charles Turbyeville nailed a half-court buzzer beater to double the teams points.
The Owls built on that shot to cut into the lead in the second by outscoring the Hawks 11-7.
Turbyeville finished the half with eight pointsand Hank Kientzy nailed another three for the Owls.
Silex made things even closer with a 13-12 third quarter.
Hall was four for four in the quarter from the free-throw line and scored six points in the third.
The Owls again edged the Hawks 13-12 in the fourth quarter, but Edmiston netted eight points in the final eight minutes to keep the Hawks ahead at the final horn.
Clopton met with Tournament runner-up Wellsville in the opening round on Tuesday.
The tournaments sixth seed started their run to the Championship game by beating the Hawks 56-47.
Only Hall scored in dougle figures with eighteen points for the Hawks as Clopton trailed by ten at halftime and despite a 19-14 third quarter, could pull even with the touneys cinderella team.
The Hawks fell to 4-8 on the season as the Tournament concluded on Saturday.
Clopton will square off with Silex again on Friday, Jan. 12. The Hawks will also host Louisiana on Monday, Jan. 15.
