Lady Blu-Jays are champs of midseason tourney

Blu-Jay junior Leah Myrick drives downcourt in the final game of the Pleasanton midseason tournament on Friday. Myrick hit eight free throws in the final quarter of the game. (Billy Roudybush/Special to the Journal)

The Pleasanton Lady Blu-Jay basketball team won their home midseason tournament on Friday, Jan. 20, by handing the Osawatomie Lady Trojans a 35-14 loss. The win gave the Lady Blu-Jays a clean sweep in the tourney.

Going into the tournament with a win against the cross-county rival Jayhawk-Linn team, Pleasanton beat the Northeast Kansas Nighthawks 26-18 in the first round, then beat Heritage Christian Academy 34-19 on Thursday.

Pleasanton took the lead against Osawatomie early on with the strength of a couple of 3-pointers and two free throws by junior Leah Myrick and field goals by junior Eryn Sabine and senior Landry George. That gave the Lady Blu-Jays a 14-0 lead at the end of the first quarter.

Lady Blu-Jay Kali Umphenour leaps for a rebound over Osawatomie's Macy Barnett. (Billy Roudybush/Special to the Journal)

But both teams struggled on offense in the second quarter. Osawatomie’s Lexie Palmer sunk a 3-pointer to put the Lady Trojans on the scoreboard. A couple of free throws each for George and Sabine, who also hit a 3-point shot, gave Pleasanton a 21-3 lead at the half.

Unrelenting defensive play around the basket by Pleasanton junior Kali Umphenour and senior Kara Umphenour dogged the Lady Trojans throughout the game. Osawatomie had difficulty getting through the pair to score inside the paint while finding it difficult to connect on long 2s or 3-pointers. But the Lady Trojans stepped up their defensive game as well.

The third quarter saw the Lady Trojans add 5 points while holding Pleasanton to a 3-pointer by George. Going into the final period with a 24-8 lead, the Blu-Jay defense gave up 6 points, but fouls by the Lady Trojans resulted in 8 free throws by Myrick and one for George as the clock ticked down.

Myrick had 16 total points in the game, George had 10, and Sabine had 9.

The Lady Blu-Jays will host Altoona at home on Friday.