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Hazelwood Central Takes 3rd Place In Class 5 Girls State Basketball
SPORTSMANSHIP WINNERS — Two Hazelwood Central Cheerleaders as well as players BreAnna McLaughlin (25), Chantiera Johnson (32) and Lisa Wren (10) displaying the Sportsmanship award Hazelwood Central won last weekend in the Class Five State Girls Tournament. Jim Wieners photo
Hazelwood Central Sports
It has been 24 years since Hazelwood Central has taken a Girls Basketball team to the Missouri State High School Activities Association Tournament in Columbia. It will have to be next year, at the earliest, for the Hawks to win state.
Last Friday night at Mizzou Arena, on the University of Missouri campus, Hazelwood Central lost the Class Five State semifinal game to Blue Springs, 58-47. Last Saturday, less than 18 hours later, the Hawks rebounded with a 58-38 win over Nerinx Hall to close the season at 26-3. Nixa won the state title.
In the semifinal game with Blue Springs the Hawks played it close in the first quarter, trailing by no more than four points. In fact Central took a brief lead, 17-15, on a Jessica Ochemba jumper with 18 seconds left only to have Blue Springs took the lead for good on a Sykes Mackenzie three-pointer 13 seconds later. “We were not able to break out,” said head coach Wendy Reeves.
Blue Springs started pulling away in the second quarter as they led by as many as 10 (32-22) with 1:45 left forcing Hazelwood Central to call timeout. It got worse in the third quarter when the Wildcats built the lead up to 12 (41-29) with 3:25 left and the Hawks could not get any closer than four (41-37) earlier in the fourth quarter after scoring eight unanswered points. “It just wasn’t our night,” Reeves said.
Senior Charlonda Bozeman led the Hawks in scoring with 13 points while two other seniors, BreAnna McLaughlin and Chantiera Johnson, scored 12 apiece. Johnson also had 12 rebounds including five on offense. CeeCee Burris led the Wildcats with 20 points and 10 rebounds.
Nerinx Hall was a team Hazelwood Central played before, in the semifinals of the Academy of the Visitation Christmas Tournament on Dec. 26, and the Hawks won 69-52. Last Saturday’s game was played before a crowd that had more St. Francis Borgia (Washington, Mo.) fans, waiting for their boys team to play the Class Four title game, than the Hawks and Markers fans combined. Nerinx, making their second trip to Mizzou Arena (fourth in 2005), was coming off a loss last Friday night to Nixa.
Reeves notices that Nerinx did not change their defensive plans from their previous game.. After the game was tied four times, and Nerinx had a brief 15-14 lead, in the first 10 minutes of the game the Hawks took over outscoring the Markers 17-7 the last six minutes of the first half to take a 33-23 lead to the locker room. The Hawks sealed the win with an 18-6 third quarter and kept the Markers off the scoreboard until 3:20 left in the fourth as the Hawks led by as much as 27 (56-29) with 4:13 left.
Sophomore Candyce Ussery, who had a game-high 11 rebounds, noticed the same way Nerinx played last Saturday and Dec. 26 saying “we knew how they played and who were the key players.” Sophomore Jasmine Crawford, who led the Hawks in scoring with 12 points, said it feels good to take home a state trophy although finishing third “might not be the place we wanted.” Kristi Yess was the only Marker to score in double figures with 16 against the Hawks and 11 against Nixa.
“My kids know I hate to lose,” said Nerinx head coach Michael Slater.. “I love to compete,” and the Markers finished 23-9. Playing in the Metro Women’s Athletic Association Slater said “we take pride in our conference.”
Central, Nerinx, Blue Springs and Nixa all took home Sportsmanship award plaques presented by the Columbia Chamber of Commerce.
Hazelwood Central had to overcome a 38-16 halftime deficit in the March 7 quarterfinal game at the University of Missouri-St. Louis Mark Twain Building to defeat Fort Zumwalt West, 50-47. Bozeman scored 19 points but it was Ussery’s three-pointer with 2.7 seconds left broke a 47-47 tie and sent the Hawks to Columbia.
On March 4 in Cedar Hill Hazelwood Central won their sectional round game over Parkway South, 61-53, at Northwest High, as McLaughlin and senior Kasei Evan each scored 13.
As far as next year is concerned the Hawks will be rebuilding as they have seven seniors who will graduate. With 3 sophomores, a junior and a freshman on the roster the Hawks “will be working hard all summer,” Reeves said.
