WISTER — The Gans Lady Grizzlies lost 4542 to the Wister Lady Wildcats in Saturday afternoon’s third-place game of the Rock Island Conference Tournament, which took place Thursday through Saturday at Wister High School’s Jerry Carpenter Memorial Gymnasium.
The Lady Grizzlies opened the tournament on Thursday with a 30-16 win over Leflore but lost 67-9 in Friday afternoon’s championship semifinals to Red Oak.
The Grizzlies went 0-2 in the three-day event as they were stung 68-21 by the Cameron Yellowjackets on Thursday, then were eliminated with a 4136 consolation semifinal loss to Leflore.
In the girls’ championship game, the Lady Wildcats rallied from an 8-3 first-quarter deficit by outscoring the Lady Grizzlies 18-12 to take a 21-20 halftime lead. An 18-10 third quarter for the Lady ’Cats upped their advantage to 39-30 going into the final period.
The Lady Grizzlies (5-8) tried to rally in the fourth quarter, outscoring the Lady Wildcats 12-6, but the rally fell short.
In defeat, Skilynn Bird and Valan Harper each scored a game-high 19 points to lead Gans, while Madi Pilkington and Nora Barnes scored two points apiece.
In the girls’ championship semifinals loss to Red Oak, the Lady Eagles flew past the Lady Grizzlies 22-2 in the opening period and just kept on flying high.
In defeat, Harper led Gans with three points, while Makinzie Kimble, Abigail Leach and Taylor Barger scored two points apiece.
In the girls’ win over Leflore, the Lady Grizzlies trailed 5-3 after a quarter but outscored the Lady Savages 9-0 in the second period to take a 12-5 lead at halftime, which became a 22-9 advantage after three quarters.
For the game, Bird scored a game-high 19 points to lead Gans, followed by Barnes with five points, Harper with four points and Leach with two points.
In the boys’ loss to Cameron, the ’Jackets flew out to a 17-4 lead after a first quarter to take full control of the contest as they never relinquished their advantage.
In defeat, Austin Hines and Eli Blackmon each scored seven points to lead the Grizzlies (2-9), followed by Bryce Stevens with five points and Jessie Phillips with two points.
In the tournamentending loss to Leflore, the Savages rallied from a 23-14 halftime deficit as they outscored the Grizzlies 27-13 in the second half for the come-frombehind victory.
In defeat, Stevens scored 12 points to lead Gans, followed by Hines with eight points, Blackmon and Phillips with six points each and Preston Bennett with four points.
