Wellsville — Usually a team needs four solid quarters to win in high school basketball.
The Baldwin girls only needed one to claim their second consecutive Wellsville Top Gun Invitational title with a 50-42 victory Saturday night over St. Marys.
"The girls deserve it," Baldwin coach Eric Toot said. "They worked real hard for this."
The Bulldogs (13-1) went on a 14-0 run at the start of the third quarter, spearheaded by senior Anna Skaggs and junior Emily Brown. Skaggs finished with 12 points, and Brown ended up with 14, seven of them coming in the third quarter.
Toot said besides the third-quarter run, his team did not perform as smoothly as it could have and gave up too many late turnovers.
"We struggled against their pressure," Toot said. "We just never did get in sync except that one stretch. I think it shows that we're a good team when we can play ugly that way and still beat a good team."
Even with St. Marys junior Jenny Quintanilla leading all scorers with 20 points, the Bears (10-4) couldn't overcome the Bulldogs' surge. Junior Mandi Lasswell added 10 points for St. Marys.
Going into halftime the game was a see-saw affair, knotted at 20. Quintanilla accounted for 12 of her team's points.
Brown, Skaggs, Quintanilla and St. Marys freshman Megan Maylan were each named to the all-tournament team. Other players selected to the squad were: Ottawa senior Liz Burks, Gardner-Edgerton junior Erin Johnson, Eudora junior Lauren Kracl, Wellsville senior Wendy Moore, Gardner-Edgerton sophomore Jessica Stewart and Anderson County junior Rachel Rockers.
Baldwin 50, Saint Marys 42
Saint Marys 9 11 8 14 -- 42
Baldwin 8 12 20 10 -- 50
Saint Marys -- Quintanilla 20, Lasswell 10, DeVader 5, Megan Maylan 5, Ashby 2.
Baldwin -- Emily Brown 14, Anna Skaggs 12, Kari Garrison 8, Katelyn Miles 7, Kayla Pringle 5, Jamie Lawrenz 2, Anna Gillispie 2.
Wellsville 47, Eudora 38
Lauren Kracl had 20 points and 15 rebounds -- her fifth double-double since winter break -- but EHS (5-9) was doomed by a 20-point second half in the fifth-place game.
"We forgot to play in the second half," Eudora coach Cara Kimberlin said. "And we missed some key free throws, had some turnovers at the point in the game that let them pull away from us."
Going into the fourth quarter, the Eagles maintained only a one point lead, but Wellsville outscored the Cardinals 17-9 in the fourth quarter.
Wendy Moore led Wellsville (3-9) with 17 points. Michel Deluna had 11 points for the Cardinals.
Wellsville 47, Eudora 38
Wellsville 10 5 15 17 -- 47
Eudora 6 12 11 9 -- 38
Wellsville -- Stacia Moore 3, Heather Carpenter 7, Kimberly Hughes 5, Dani Patton 9, Wendy Moore 17, Lacey Roecker 6.
Eudora -- Rachel Abel 2, Michelle Deluna 11, Lauren Kracl 20, Alissa Hamilton 2, Mallorie Cleveland 3.
Gardner-Edgerton 73, Ottawa 59
Gardner (7-7) bolted to a 35-25 halftime lead and never let up in the third-place game.
Liz Burks led Ottawa (7-6) with 21 points, while Megan Ramsey added 16 and Jenny Heck had 15.
"We're just not getting it done defensively," Ottawa coach Cliff McCullough said. "You cannot give up 70 points and expect to win."
Gardner-Edgerton 73, Ottawa 59
Ottawa 14 11 16 18 -- 59
Gardner-Edgerton 20 15 15 23 -- 73
Ottawa -- Liz Burks 21, Megan Ramsey 16, Jenny Heck 15, Julie Heck 4, Kelsie Studley 2, Allie Daniels 1.
Gardner-Edgerton -- Stewart 20, Habrock 15, Johnson 12, Berg 9, Howard 9, Byler 4, Taylor 4.
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