Hartville Lady Eagles win Cabool Lady Classic

Many area basketball fans will have to forgive the Hartville Lady Eagles’ basketball team for appearing to prefer tournament games over regular season contests.
Through Jan. 22, the Lady Eagles are one game under .500 when not playing for a plaque or a trophy.
Put them into a tournament setting and the Lady Eagles are a team to be reckoned with.
In three of the four tournaments they played in this season, Hartville has compiled a 7-1 record and two tournament championships.
One week after winning the Stoutland title, the Lady Eagles added three victories to win this past week’s Cabool Lady Classic championship.
In the Cabool finals, the Lady Eagles avenged a 10-point regular season loss to Gainesville back on Dec. 11 by knocking off the top-seeded Lady Bulldogs, 36-27.
The defense was key in the rematch with the now 14-4 Gainesville squad as they held the Lady Bulldogs to four points or less in the first and fourth quarters.
Maddie Brown was a difference maker as she scored half of her team’s 10 points in the opening frame.
Gainesville would rally in the second quarter to cut the lead to just two at halftime.
In the third quarter, Kinley Cryer scored six points and Gensen Culver added five.
Up four, Hartville would make 8-of-10 free throws down the stretch to seal the win.
Cryer was named to the All-Tournament team after scoring 11 points, which included her joining the 1,000 career points club in the win.
Brown, another All-Tournament selection, also scored 11 points.
Culver had 10 while both Sarah Palmer and Brielle Kline had two points
In the semifinals, they avenged a Mountain Grove Holiday Tournament loss to Van Buren by crushing them in the rematch, 69-43.
Hartville opened the game on a 17-4 run with the help of Cryer’s eight points.
Five different Lady Eagles would score in the second quarter to put Hartville up 15 at the break.
The Lady Eagles pulled away in the third quarter with a 28-point frame.
Cryer hit a pair of 3-pointers and scored 11 points while Culver added nine.
Cryer led Hartville with a team-high 25 points; Culver added 14; Brown had 13; Palmer scored 12; Jacey Revey had three; and Kline scored two points.
In the opening round, the Lady Eagles battled rival Mansfield and cruised to a 56-23 victory.
Hartville shut out the Lady Lions’ offense in the first quarter and held them to nine points or less in the final 24 minutes of action.
Cryer scored seven of her team’s 12 points early on while Haddie Ward scored six in the second quarter to give Hartville a 19-poimt halftime edge.
While Mansfield’s Kayley Kingery scored half of her team’s eight points in the third, Brown scored five points for the Lady Eagles.
Addie Jones did score seven points in the final frame, but it wasn’t enough for the Lady Lions.
Cryer finished with 15 points; Brown and 13; Ward 11; Palmer had seven; and both Kline and Revey had two points.
Jones led the Lady Lions with 11 points; Kingery had 10; and Chloe Napier had two points.