By MATT KING\Daily Journal Sports Writer

Published: Wednesday, February 09, 2005
Updated: Wednesday, February 9, 2005 11:59 AM CST

PARK HILLS - Seeds held true to form on Tuesday in the girls bracket of the MAAA Conference Tournament as both No. 2 Fredericktown and No. 3 Valle coasted to their 19th victories of the season in quarter-final round action.

The first contest of the day saw the Valle defense clamp down on No. 7 Arcadia Valley, while senior standout Kara Schilli turned in another versatile effort to lead the Lady Warriors to a 49-23 victory.

Schilli finished the game with 19 points, 12 rebounds and eight assists for Valle (19-1), but was not the only Lady Warrior to post a strong offensive day. Sara Hermann added 14 points while Angie Herzog chipped in with 12.

Arcadia Valley (9-11) enjoyed some early success by attacking the basket, but quickly found themselves unable to keep up with Valle's potent transition attack. Schilli turned several of her defensive rebounds into assists with long outlet passes leading to easy layups.

Freshman Kassie Walker finished a nice passing play with a basket to keep the Lady Tigers within 8-6 early, but a break-away layup by Hermann began a 16-0 Valle run which carried over into the second quarter.

After Herzog beat the first-quarter buzzer with a three-pointer, Schilli added a triple of her own and two straight driving layups for seven quick points. A jumper by April Thurman brought Arcadia Valley to within 24-10, but Valle continued to roll, extending the halftime margin to 30-14.

Herzog hit her second three of the game and also scored on an offensive putback to highlight an 11-3 scoring edge for Valle in the third quarter. The Lady Tigers struggled to hit their outside shots with their lone field goal of the stanza coming on a short jumper from Leah Williams, who was one of 10 Arcadia Valley players to score.

Hermann added two more transition layups to begin the final period. The Valle lead reached its highest point at 47-17 before Dorcas Williams and Suzee Spitzmiller countered with scores for the Lady Tigers.

The second quarter-final game yielded a similar one-sided result as the Fredericktown Lady Cats forced 31 turnovers on defense in a 66-32 win over seventh-seeded Ste. Genevieve.

Fredericktown (19-2) jumped out to a blazing 8-0 start with two baskets each from Michelle Matthews and Kylie Boswell as the Hunters struggled to advance the ball past half-court. Freshman Courtney Kemp extended the early margin to 18-4 with a steal and layup.

Ste. Genevieve (8-13) answered with back-to-back jumpers from Ashley Armbruster and Sara Flieg, but still trailed 22-8 at the end of the first quarter.

Lindsay Rhodes maintained her consistency for the Hunters with 13 points and 12 rebounds. Rhodes converted a jumper into a three-point play in the second quarter, but Fredericktown's Betsy Royer caught a high pass and scored while drawing contact at the other end. Fredericktown went on to lead 42-21 at halftime.

Royer showed her range with a three-pointer early in the third, and Amy Hendrix drove to the hoop for a three-point play to continue the pull-away. The Lady Cats carried a 57-26 advantage into the fourth quarter and cruised from there with a running clock in effect.

Boswell led 11 different Fredericktown scorers with 15 points while Royer scored 11 and Hendrix add 10.

Fredericktown and Valle will meet again at the Bob Sechrest, Sr. Fieldhouse during the semi-final round on Thursday night. The Lady Cats handed the Lady Warriors their only loss of the season in December.

Both clubs are currently state-ranked, adding more intrigue to the match-up. Fredericktown is currently second in Class 4, and Valle is fifth in Class 2.

Ste. Genevieve and Arcadia Valley will meet in the fifth-place bracket at 5:30 p.m. on Friday. The Hunters downed the Lady Tigers in Ironton earlier this season.

Valle - 17 13 11 8 - 49

Arcadia Valley - 6 8 3 6 - 23

SCORING:

Valle - K Schilli 19, S Hermann 14, A Herzog 12, K Bergtholdt 2, C Stoll 2.

3-pointers - A Herzog 2, K Schilli 1.

Arcadia Valley - K Walker 6, T Franklin 2, D Williams 2, B Bennett 2, L Williams 2, M Reichert 2, A Thurman 2, N Hercon 2, S Spitzmiller 2, L Goggin 1.

3-pointers - None.

Ste. Genevieve - 8 13 5 6 - 32

Fredericktown - 22 20 15 9 - 66

SCORING:

Ste. Genevieve - L Rhodes 13, S Flieg 8, A Armbruster 8, K Ragan 2, K Meyer 1.

3-pointers - None.

Fredericktown - K Boswell 15, B Royer 11, A Hendrix 10, M Matthews 8, J Whitener 7, C Kemp 4, J Brown 4, D Hughes 2, M Johnson 2, D Beckham 2, M Bess 1.

3-pointers - B Royer 2.