Lady Tigers Basketball Team Splits Home Stand, Top St. Joseph Central (Jan. 20-23)

EXCELSIOR SPRINGS, Mo. – The Lady Tiger basketball team split a pair of home games last week, earning a win over St. Joseph Central before falling to Kearney.

The Lady Tigers defeated the Central Indians, 47–39, opening the game with a 10–9 lead after the first quarter. Back-to-back baskets from senior Josie Casler and a free throw by senior Kinley Rogers gave the Lady Tigers a 5–0 start. Central answered with a basket and a three-pointer to tie the game at five with 3:42 remaining in the opening quarter.

Senior Bella Loeffert grabbed a rebound and converted a putback to regain the lead. Casler later made the front end of two free throws, and Loeffert again secured the rebound on the second attempt and put it back in to close out the Lady Tigers’ first-quarter scoring.

Rogers opened the second quarter with a basket inside the paint and followed with another rebound and putback at the 6:08 mark to give the Lady Tigers a 14–9 advantage. The Lady Tigers went scoreless for the next four minutes before Rogers added another inside basket to extend the lead to 16–12. Loeffert closed the half by cutting to the basket for a layup, sending the Lady Tigers into halftime with a 21–16 lead.

The Lady Tigers built a nine-point lead in the third quarter, but the Indians responded and cut the margin to 36–31 by the end of the period. The Lady Tigers pushed the lead back to eight points multiple times in the fourth quarter, including the final margin.

Rogers led the Lady Tigers with 23 points and 17 rebounds. Casler scored nine points, while Loeffert added six. Junior Lara Hutton finished with five points, and junior Lexy Martin added four.

The Lady Tigers returned to action on January 23, when the Kearney Bulldogs visited Excelsior Springs and earned a 69–20 victory. Statistical lines were unavailable for the Suburban Conference Blue Division loss.