Meadow Heights, Zalma advance to championship game

Zalma, the No. 5 seed, upset No. 1 Leopold, 62-61, in the semifinals of the Mississippi Valley Conference boys basketball tournament at Oak Ridge High School on Saturday.

Justin Lemons led the Bulldogs with 17 points, while Colton Bailey scored 12.

Leopold entered halftime with a 33-28 lead, but Zalma (8-8) controlled the second half, especially the third quarter, outscoring the Wildcats 24-15.

Leopold gained possession of the basketball with 1.9 seconds remaining in the contest, but could not get off a shot.

The Bulldogs will play Meadow Heights in the title game Monday at 8:30 p.m. The No. 2 Panthers beat No. 3 Chaffee 69-59 in the other semifinal matchup Saturday.

Meadow Heights (8-8) was led by Tyler Wagner, who posted a double-double, with 18 points and 10 rebounds.

Dustin Hubler netted 19 points, and Ethan Mayfield added 13 points for the Panthers.

Adam Horton led the Red Devils with 16 points.

Zalma 62, Leopold 61

Zalma 16 12 24 10 -- 62

Leopold 19 14 15 13 -- 61

Zalma (62) -- Justin Lemons 17, Travis Mergel 11, Colton Bailey 12, Nick Smith 9. Kevin Walker 2, Nick Montgomery 2, Jeremy Rodgers 9. FG 23, FT 12-25, F 17 (3-pointers: Mergel 2, Lemons 2. Fouled out: none)

Leopold (61) -- Dustin Thiele 9, Cody Van De Ven 4, Wade Wiseman 5, Trent Vandeven 3, Darren VanGennip 28, Larry Nussbaum 11, Clayton Stoverink 1. FG 22, FT 12-16, F 19 (3-pointers: Wiseman 1, T. Vandeven 1, VanGennip 3. Fouled out: Cody Vandeven)

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Meadow Heights 69, Chaffee 59

Chaffee 17 12 19 11 -- 59

Meadow Heights 13 18 17 21 -- 69

Chaffee (59) -- Josh Steger 7, Trenton Horman 6, Taimen Taylor 5, Jerrod Steger 11, Dylan McAlister, 2, Adam Horton 16, Andy Hendrix 12. FG 22, FT 9-15, F 16 (3-pointers: Horman 1, Taylor 1, Horton 4. Fouled out: none)

Meadow Heights (69) -- Dustin Hubler 19, Derrick Wilfong 6, Tyler Wagner 18, Luke Nitsch 2, Ethan Mayfield 13, Zac Hotop 4, Derek Bess 4, Tyler Welker 3. FG 28, FT 12-16, F 17 (3-pointers: Welker 1. Fouled out: none)

Notre Dame 86, Anna Jonesboro (Ill.) 37

Senior Ryan Willen netted 26 points to help the Bulldogs post a 49-point home win.

The Bulldogs (15-6) outscored Anna Jonesboro 31-5 in a lopsided first quarter, and never looked back.

Also reaching double figures in scoring for Notre Dame were Alex Bader, with 13 points, and Austin Greer, with 10.

Anna Jonesboro 5 13 11 8 -- 37

Notre Dame 31 15 30 10 -- 86

Anna Jonesboro (37) -- Crabtree 1, Wheaton 3, Pecord 9, Partridge 6, Hubble 9, Wright 5, Cotton 2, Casper 2. FG 13, FT 7-20, F 10 (3-pointers: Wheaton 1, Hubble 1. Fouled out: none)

Notre Dame (86) -- Trenton Vance 2, Spencer Schoch 3, Ty Williams 8, Alex Bader 13, Blake Gaddis 4, Mark Himmelberg 8, John Unterreiner 8, Austin Greer 10, Ryan Willen 26 Logan Glueck 4. FG 36, FT 7-9, F 18 (3-pointers: Schoch 1, Williams 1, Bader 3, Himmelberg 2. Fouled out: none)

GIRLS BASKETBALLCentral 50, Rosati-Kain 33

Wendi Zickfield struck for 23 points to lead the Tigers to the home win.

Central (10-9) pulled away in the third quarter after enjoying a five-point lead at halftime.

Rosati 8 4 6 15 -- 33

Central 13 4 16 17 -- 50

Rosati-Kain (33) -- Allison Benda 5, Maria Durban 2, Catherine Gould 2, Emily Hamm 6, Amanda Noelker 14, Ali Ross 4. FG 9, FT 14-20, F 16 (3-pointer: Benda. Fouled out: None)

Central (50) -- Sadie Pittman 7, Tierra Walker 8, Lauren Kinsey 2, Chelsea Pannier 4, Breia Twiggs 6, Wendi Zickfield 23. FG 20, FT 10-12, F 18 (3-pointers: None. Fouled out: None)

JV -- Central won.

-- From staff reports