By MATT PIKE
After winning Class 1 District 16 last season, and finishing fourth in the state tournament, the Rock Port Blue Jay girls came into this season with lofty expectations. On Friday night, they achieved the first step in getting back to the Final Four, winning a second consecutive district title.
Taking on the Mound City Panthers, a team the Blue Jays had faced three times previously through the season, Rock Port battled back and forth until pulling away in the fourth quarter, winning 41-37 in Stanberry.
Head coach Austin Alitz says feeling more pressure this season is the biggest difference between this district championship and last years.
"We were the #1 seed, we had beat Mound City three times, and I knew Coach (Ryan) Osburn was going to make it a dogfight and he did," Alitz tells reporters. "But it means a lot, and I'm happy."
Rock Port controlled the tempo through the first quarter playing stifling defense and forcing takeaways, leading to the Blue Jays holding a 13-6 lead at the end of the opening quarter. Mound City stormed back in the second quarter however as Peyton Farr, who scored all the points in the first quarter, added five more points and the Panthers outscore Rock Port 14-6 to hold a 20-19 lead at halftime.
Defensive adjustments at halftime were the story of the game. Following the 11 first half points from Farr, she would score no more, as the Blue Jays held the sophomore without a basket the entire second half. Maggie Osburn, the Panthers other top scorer through the season, was held to just eight points, six of those in the second half.
Alitz says it's hard to hold those two good basketball players to that low of scoring, coming off a game where Farr scored 20 and Osburn added 19 against Stanberry in the semifinal matchup.
"I just looked at the book and saw Peyton ended with 11, and I was like man that's what I told the girls at halftime that she had," Alitz says. "Just we got after it defensively and it worked out pretty well."
In the third quarter, Ella Meyerkorth scored five points, a free throw marking her 1,000th career point with the Blue Jays. Narrowly outscoring the Panthers, the matchup went into the final quarter tied at 31. In the final quarter Rock Port was able to pull away again, this time thanks to Audrie Meyerkorth and Braylyn Wood, pushing the lead to 41-35, before a last second layup from Danica McDonald made it 41-37.
Ella Meyerkorth led Rock Port with 12 points while Audrie Meyerkorth added 11 points. Stevie Gaines chipped in eight points. For Mound City, Farr led with 11 points while Osburn added eight points. Sophie Biermann and Seiah Meadows each scored six points.
Rock Port will travel to St. Joseph on Monday to face North Andrew in the Class 1 Sectional round. The matchup will be at St. Joseph Christian, tipping off at 7pm.
You can follow Matt on X @KfeqMatt.