Second-half collapse dooms Lady Cardinals

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. — The Mineral Area women’s basketball team forged ahead of 9th-ranked State Fair on Friday night by knocking down its first four field goal attempts of the second half.

That success was followed by a stunning eight-minute stretch as the Lady Cardinals were outscored 30-4, and saw head coach Gary Koch ejected while three key starters were burdened with four fouls.

Ebony Davis scored 17 points and Maci Wisdom had 16 to lead five players in double figures, as State Fair posted a lopsided 90-57 victory to reach the Region XVI championship game.

Mineral Area (16-16) was ahead throughout the majority of the first half following five rapid lead changes. Hanna Vette made it 15-9 with a 3-pointer, then restored the six-point advantage at 22-16 with two free throws.

MAC sophomore Emily Brumitt drained her second of four triples near the conclusion of the first half, but the Roadrunners answered with a 7-0 spurt to claim a 34-32 lead at intermission.

The Lady Cardinals prolonged their upset bid by striking multiple times in transition for a 47-44 edge with about 15 minutes left, but were limited to just 10 total points over the remainder of the action.

Jallisa Lewis sparked a pivotal 20-2 outburst with a 3-point play originated from an offensive rebound, and Davis converted the back-to-back technical fouls against Koch into four made free throws for a 64-49 spread.

State Fair (27-4) will face Jefferson today for the region championship and a berth in the national tournament. The Vikings bounced third-ranked Iowa Western 82-62 in the first semifinal played on Friday.

Briannica Tye scored 14 points to match Brumitt, and Devonna Smith added nine off the bench for Mineral Area.

Mineral Area  32  25 – 57

State Fair  34  56 – 90

SCORING:

Mineral Area – Emily Brumitt 14, Briannica Tye 14, Devonna Smith 9, Hanna Vette 7, Sonya Milford 6, Molly Barnes 4, Kate Alemann 2, Whitney McNeely 1. 3-point FG – Brumitt 4, Tye, Vette.

State Fair – Ebony Davis 17, Maci Wisdom 16, Hattie Harris 12, Jallisa Lewis 11, Dahlia Booker 10, Alexas Brown 8, Mariah Duke 7, Tyler Anderson 4, Anya Trass 3, TyJae’ Chenevert 2. 3-point FG – Wisdom 4, Duke, Brown, Harris.