ASHLAND, Mo. - The Number 8 team in state for class 3, California Pintos (16-4) lost a tough, defensive game to the Boonville Pirates (17-2), 45-30, at the championship game at the Southern Boone Classic, Feb. 2.
The Pintos won their first-round game vs Southern Boone, 63-50, Jan. 28. California won their second-round game vs Fulton, 59-29, Jan. 30.
It was a low-scoring start to the game, as Boonville led 10-4 with under a minute to go in the first quarter, before the Pintos hit a 3-pointer in the final seconds to make it a 10-7 game. That would be the score at the end of the quarter.
The Pintos trailed 15-7 with just under 7:00 to go in the first half, when the Pintos would go on a 6-0 run to make it a two-point game at 15-13, with just more than 4:00 to play in the half. California tied the game at 15-15 with just under 3:00 to go. The Pirates made a 3-pointer to make it a 18-15 game with around 1:00 to go. California cut the lead down to one, to make it a 18-17 game. But Boonville scored one more time to enter halftime with a 20-17 lead.
Bonville's full-court defense created multiple turnovers in the third quarter that allowed the Pirates to begin to pull away. The Pirates went on a 10-3 run to take a 30-20 lead with around 4:00 to go in the quarter. The Pirates defense made it hard for the Pintos to get anything going on offense, as the Pintos were outscored 16-6 in the third quarter. Boonville led 36-23 after the third quarter.
Head Coach Bobby Sangster said that Boonville has good, solid defense.
Sangster said that the team must shoot the ball better and have better passing when they are dealing with a full-court defense.
In the fourth quarter, both teams continued to play tough defense, as neither team scored more than nine points in the quarter. The Pintos took the lead down to single digits, thanks to a play by Paige Lamm to make it 39-30 game with around 3:00 to go.
But Boonville's defense made it tough for the Pintos to cut into the lead any further. Boonville outscored California 9-7 in the final quarter.
Lamm led the team with 11 points and Gracie George scored eight.