VERSAILLES, Mo. - The Class 3 District 13 Tournament girls championship between Boonville and California was a tale of two halves.
In the first half, the Lady Pintos came out gunning from distance, sinking seven 3-pointers to carry a 10-point lead into the locker room.
But Boonville would adjust. The Lady Pirates outscored California 20-2 in the third quarter to take control and completely turn the tide heading into the fourth.
Although California's offense got back on track a bit in the final frame, the Lady Pintos never stopped the duo of Jamie Lemmons and Brynn Edwards, as Boonville held on for a 60-45 win.
"Sometimes the game is very simple and basic," California coach Bobby Sangster said. "In the first half we were making shots and executing. In the second half, we were executing, but shots just couldn't go in the basket for us."
California's total of 11 second half points boiled down to an inability to get the ball cleanly into the post. The Lady Pintos struggled with interior passing all game. Ten of California's 14 made field goals came from beyond the arc.
Turnovers for both teams led to a sloppy start, but while California found some offensive rhythm in the second quarter, Boonville remained stagnant against the Lady Pintos' pressure.
Before Lemmons (21 points) and Edwards (16 points) got rolling in the second half, the Lady Pirates stayed afloat at the free-throw line.
Boonville (24-2) shot 27-of-35 at the charity stripe, including a perfect 11-for-11 in the first half. Junior guard Camryn Monteer was the lone Boonville player to get on track early, scoring 10 of her 13 points before the break.
"I feel like we relaxed at halftime," Sangster said. "I feel like we kind of took our foot off the accelerator and you can't do that in this situation."
Junior Elizabeth Lutz led California (21-6) with 17 points while senior Emma Bailey was next on the team with 13. Junior Brittney Ellington scored 10 points off the bench - all in the first half. Senior Kayla Allison rounded out California's scoring with five points.
Saturday's district championship was the third meeting between Boonville and California this season. The Lady Pintos won the first matchup in a season-opening 45-39 win, while the Lady Pirates won 55-39 at the California Tournament in January.
"It all ties together," Sangster said. "There's no magic formula. There's no one thing that Boonville did to make life more difficult. It was all a culmination a lot of different things."
Boonville will play Kansas City: Southeast at 7:45 p.m. Wednesday in Harrisonville in the Class 3 sectional round.