After absorbing four quarters of contact in the paint against Potosi, Festus junior forward Addison Smith glided to the rim untouched and lofted a shot up and in with nine seconds left to play.
Her basket supplied the final points in the Tigers’ 61-58 comeback victory over the Trojans in the third-place game of the 69th Bob Sechrest Jr. Christmas Tournament in Park Hills Dec. 31. Smith finished with 10 points, and Festus, seeded fourth, improved to 9-2 going into 2025. It was the second narrow loss for the second-seeded Trojans (10-2).
“(Potosi) coach (Josh Mapes) has a great team,” Festus head coach Aaron Portell said. “They have some players who can shoot. I thought we had a little advantage with our height. Addison down low on the block was big for us.
“Our defensive pressure was much better in the second half. In the first half, we didn’t have a lot of energy. When you have energy, you play faster defensively.”
A 6-0 run in the second quarter boosted Potosi’s lead, but a 3-point basket by sophomore Lillian Kennedy and another bucket by junior Alyzah Scaggs pulled Festus close at 31-28. Senior Aubree Wilson made three of Potosi’s five baskets from 3-point range in the first half and the Trojans led 36-28 at the break. Wilson led all scorers with 20 points.
After outscoring Potosi 17-7 in the third, the Tigers took a 45-43 lead into the fourth. A basket by Kennedy with 6:00 to play gave Festus a 49-48 lead, and within the next minute, Scaggs nailed a 3 and then made a two-point bucket as the Tiger lead surged to 54-48.
With 3:00 to play, Scaggs scored again to make it 56-50, then with 34 seconds remaining, she buried two free throws for a 59-55 edge.
The Trojans had a chance to tie the game after they forced a turnover with intense pressure on an inbounds play.
“That was the first situation we had with pressure and the game on the line,” said Portell, in his first season piloting Festus after a long career coaching basketball and soccer (girls and boys) at St. Pius X. “We didn’t do a very good job there. We put our head down and dribbled into a double-team. That’s something we’ll work on. But we got the win and we’re going to enjoy this new year.”
Festus made only four of 23 shots from beyond the arc, including two in 10 attempts by Scaggs, who was 2-10 from there and finished with a team-high 24 points. She averages 12.5 points per game and three teammates, Kennedy (12.4), Smith (10.7) and junior Olivia Madden (10.3) – are also averaging in double figures. Scaggs logged a season-high 25 points against West County.
“We had a lot of energy and we knew we wanted to win bad and we came back and got it,” Scaggs said. “Olivia’s a really good point guard and she led our team to success. (Potosi) had a lot of shooters, but we kept our intensity up.”
Portell said Scaggs has become the team’s go-to on offense.
“She didn’t have a good first half,” he said. “We tried finding her ways to score points by getting to the basket (and not) rely on the 3-point shot. She came out in the third quarter and shot-faked the 3, got to the basket for two points and that opened things up for her.”
It was the second meeting of the season between the Tigers and Trojans, who won the first meeting 56-51 in double overtime of the Fountain City Classic in De Soto last month. Madden led Festus with 14 points and 10 boards, but the Tigers were an ice-cold three-for-26 from beyond the arc.
The top-seeded host Rebels (8-1) repeated as Sechrest tournament champions, beating No. 3 Fredericktown (5-6) 48-34. It’s Central’s 10th Sechrest crown since 2011. The Blackcats last won the tournament in 2006.
Festus tipped off 2025 at Oakville Tuesday, after the Leader deadline, and plays its second straight nonconference road game at Fort Zumwalt North tonight (Jan. 9). The Tigers lead the Jefferson County Activities Association large-schools standings at 2-0 and visit defending conference champion Hillsboro (0-0, 7-1) Jan. 16.
Lancers finish third in Rolla
St. Pius hired Harrison Brumley to replace Portell. Brumley was an assistant coach for state championship teams at Incarnate Word Academy and CBC. The Lancers (4-6) are in their first season as an independent. They took third place in Rolla’s Holiday Hoops Tournament Dec. 26-28.
In a 43-33 win over Waynesville, junior center Brooke Blankenship scored 15 points, hauled in eight rebounds and blocked four shots. Senior guard PJ Krodinger contributed six points, four steals and three assists and senior Bridget Flanagan had 10 points and three assists.
The Lancers fell 57-35 to Grain Valley in the semifinals. Blankenship and Krodinger each had 11 points, and junior Abigail Rohe scored seven.
In the third-place game, St. Pius beat Jonesboro (Ark.) 41-38. Blankenship poured in 20 points to go with 10 rebounds, and Krodinger posted 11 points and five steals. Blankenship was named to the all-tournament team.
“We didn’t disappoint,” Brumley said. “(We) battled through adversity, as our point guard change improved us 100 percent. With the departure of Carlei Clubb (transfer to Hillsboro), Flanagan has done a tremendous job getting our team back on track and providing much needed leadership.”
This week the Lancers are playing in the Lutheran South Tournament (Jan. 3-11).
Hawks win holiday tournament, Hilton attains milestone
What better time to reach 1,000 career points than in overtime of a tournament game?
Ashley Hilton became the second Hilton in as many seasons to top that plateau after her sister, Kaylee, a 2024 graduate and the reigning JCAA large-schools MVP. Ashley’s big moment came in a 46-41 win over Jefferson in the semifinals of the sixth annual FSCB Holiday Tournament at West County. Seeded No. 1, the Hawks beat Cuba 48-29 Dec. 31 in the tournament championship.
Ashley met her season average of 21 points per game against Cuba, and with a season-and-a-half remaining, she’s on track to pass her sister in career points and could challenge the school record of 1,327, set by Lexi Close in 2017.
“They are definitely different players with different strengths,” Hubbard said of the Hiltons. “Ashley is better getting steals and defensively, and Kaylee could shoot a little bit better. Ashley slashes to the basket and is tough to stop.”
The Hawks played their last two games without junior guard Carlie Galczynski, who was hit in the mouth during a game against St. Paul Lutheran (Farmington). Hubbard said Galczynski almost had a tooth knocked out but has since been cleared to play.
“We are relearning how to play without her (and) against Jefferson, we did a nice job of adjusting,” Hubbard said. “We hit a rough patch where we couldn’t do anything on offense and we didn’t hit shots from the outside, but Ashley hit some tough shots at the end.
“Against Cuba, I felt like defensively we played much better. It was the second game without our shooting guard. Our depth made Cuba get up and down the floor more than they were used to.”
Jefferson evened its record at 6-6 when it beat West County 42-37 to finish third at the West County-Kingston Tournament Dec. 31.
In the first round of the tournament, the Blue Jays beat Kingston 76-12 and junior Halayna Loyd set the school record for points in a game with 32. The record was previously set in 2019 by Laney Smith.