Prep Hoops Round-up: Lady 'Hounds stopped in Windsor tourney finals

WINDSOR -- The Sweet Springs girls' basketball team was slow getting started Saturday, and by the time it did it was too late against the strong defense of Leeton.

The Lady Bulldogs rolled to a 12-point halftime lead for a 41-29 victory in the championship game of the Windsor Tournament. Leeton limited the Lady Greyhounds to 39 shots from the field, holding the tournament "most valuable player" -- sophomore Brittany Higgins, who had racked up 37 points in the first two games -- to six points.

Junior Mallory Early scored 12 of her game-high 14 points during the first half for the Lady Bulldogs (13-3), who had earlier won the Mid-Lakes Conference Tournament title.

Senior Kathleen Tyler's seven points was tops for Sweet Springs (12-4), which plays a non-conference game today at St. Mary's in Independence.

Higbee 41, Malta Bend 31

PRAIRIE HOME -- Higbee's 11-1 first quarter Friday set the tone for the fifth-place game in the CCAA Tournament at Prairie Home, a 41-31 win over Malta Bend.

Sophomore Tori Dillon scored all of her game-high 13 points during the first half to give Higbee (3-14) a 16-point cushion.

Junior Kelsey Forqueran had nine points and junior Kayla Eskew added eight for the Lady Tigers (0-15), who put together two double-digit periods for the first time this season. The two teams will meet in a CCAA regular-season game Tuesday at Malta Bend.

Meanwhile, the Tigers (1-14) forfeited their fifth-place boys' tilt against Prairie Home (1-15), which they had beaten the previous week for their only win of the season, due to a lack of players.

Boys

Sweet Springs 43, Leeton 42

WINDSOR -- The Sweet Springs boys held off a fourth-quarter comeback attempt by top seed Leeton to take third place Saturday in the Windsor Tournament, 43-42.

The Greyhounds were down by six points at halftime, but senior Nick Peeples made three shots during the third period to spark a 17-8 run. Despite missing the front end of two one-and-one opportunities at the free-throw line during the fourth quarter, Sweet Springs got three-pointers from senior Tyler Dohrman and junior Kyle Fuehring to counter a pair of bombs from Bulldogs sophomore Cameron Elwell.

Elwell tallied a game-high 14 points for Leeton (10-6).

Peeples' 11 points led the 'Hounds (9-8), who head to Slater for a non-conference game Tuesday.