By TOMMY REZAC
St. Joseph Post
The Bishop LeBlond boys' and girls' basketball teams will play for a LeBlond tournament title Wednesday after both teams earned big semifinal wins over North Andrew Tuesday night at Grace Gymnasium.
Senior Kianna Herrera led her team with 27 points, including 16 in the second quarter to help the Golden Eagles (10-1) to a 45-27 victory.
"I didn't even know I had 27," Herrera smiled. "When I'm playing, my overall goal is to make sure that everybody contributes and everyone works together and get that win."
LeBlond trailed North Andrew 5-3 after the first quarter, but used a 14-2 run in the second to eventually go up 23-13 at halftime.
Three-pointers from both Kayla and Katie Beam helped LeBlond pad their lead, and North Andrew (5-2) was held to just four made field goals in the second half.
Tatum Studer added five points for LeBlond. Brylie Brincks led North Andrew with 11 points. The Eagles were without Shae Lewis Tuesday, and Sloan Lewis spent time on the bench with three fouls in the first half.
The Cardinals now face Savannah for third place on Wednesday at 4 p.m. LeBlond, meanwhile, will face Plattsburg for the championship at 7 p.m. Plattsburg beat Savannah in the other semifinal, 35-22.
"They're a tough team and we just have to play like always we do and we should be awesome," Herrera said.
The LeBlond boys (7-3) used a 21-5 run in the second quarter to pull away from North Andrew and win their semifinal, 59-22, Tuesday night. Senior Chris Guldan led the Eagles with 17 points - 11 of that came in the second quarter.
Senior Owen Graham led his team with 16 points. He had 16 of his team's 17 points through three quarters. The Cardinals have been down a handful of players due to injuries and other things.
"They're a better team than that," LeBlond coach Mitch Girres said. "They're going to be better and they're going to continue to get better. I was happy with our kids and our effort and our intensity and our focus on what we wanted to do game plan wise."
Landon Gardner chipped in 11 points for LeBlond, while Marcos Dominguez added nine off the bench.
The Eagles now get set to face Smithville in the tournament championship on Wednesday night at 8:30 p.m. The Warriors (6-3) beat Plattsburg in semifinals, 72-42, on Tuesday.
"It's going to be a really, really tough challenge for us," Girres said of Smithville. "We're going to have to be prepared and smart with our rest and give it all we got."
North Andrew faces Plattsburg for 3rd place on Wednesday at 5:30.
You can follow Tommy on Twitter @TommyKFEQ and St. Joseph Post @StJosephPost.