Country Christian slips past Lions

Country Christian, Imbler and Southwest Christian joined Joseph as quarterfinal winners at the Class 1A state girls basketball tournament Thursday at Baker High School.

Country Christian defeated Hosanna Christian 31-27. Imbler topped Adrian 63-50. Southwest Christian defeated Griswold 38-28.

Country Christian took the lead for good with 2:07 left in the game in a seesaw affair.

Heather Cunningham hit a three-point basket to give the Cougars a 29-27 edge.

Hosanna Christian’s Taylor Ronnander missed a three-point try with 15 seconds left, the last chance for the Lady Lions.

Ashley Axmaker hit a pair of free throws with 1.7 seconds left to secure the win for Country Christian.

Macey Chronister scored four points to help Hosanna Christian take an 8-6 lead after one quarter.

Axmaker answered with four points in a 6-0 Country Christian run to start the second quarter that led to a 12-10 Cougar halftime lead.

Ronnander and Kate Anderson each scored five points in the third quarter as Hosanna Christian regained a 21-20 lead.

The teams then switched leads early in the fourth quarter until Anderson’s three-pointer gave Hosanna Christian a 27-26 advantage with 2:44 left. Cunningham then hit with her three-pointer.

Cunningham led Country Christian with 13 points and 14 rebounds. Ronnander topped Hosanna Christian with 10 points.

Hosanna Christian    8    2    11                 6 — 27

Country Christian    6    6    8               11 — 31

Hosanna Christian (27) — Crawford 1 1-2 3, Anderson 3 0-2 8, Matchett 1 0-0 2, Ronnander 4 0-2 10, Chronister 1 2-2 4, Castle 0 0-2 0. Totals 10 3-10 27.

Country Christian (31) — A. Lewandowski 2 0-0 4, Axmaker 3 2-2 8, McFarland 2 0-1 4, Cunningham 6 0-2 13, Barden 1 0-0 2, K. Lewandowski, Egger, Ross, Racicot-Brazeau. Totals 14 2-5 31.

Three-point goals — Anderson 2, Ronnander 2, Cunningham. Fouled out — none. Total fouls — Hosanna Christian 12, Country Christian 9. Technicals — none.

Imbler rallies in third quarter

Imbler broke a 29-29 halftime tie by outscoring Adrian 18-5 in the third quarter.

Trailing 32-31 Demetria Thompson scored to give Imbler a 33-32 lead. The Panthers never trailed again. Thompson finished the third quarter scoring seven points.

Thompson led Imbler with 19 points and 13 rebounds.

Terra Rust led Adrian with 17 points and six assists.

Imbler    11    18    18                16— 63

Adrian    14    15    5               16 — 50

Imbler (63) — West 1 5-6 7, Dewey, Thompson 8 3-6 19, S. Bowers 4 5-6 13, C. Poe 4 1-2 9, Anthony 1 1-3 3, K. Poe 2 4-6 8, A. Bowers, Nilsson 2 0-0 4. Totals 22 19-29 66.

Adrian (50) — VanCorbach 4 0-0 8, Shira 1 5-8 7, Rust 7 0-1 17, Purnell 3 1-2 7, Shenk 3 0-2 7, Morton, Orosco 1 2-2 4, Pendergrass, Thompson. Totals 19 8-15 50.

Three-point goals — Rust 3, Shenk. Fouled out — Rust, Shenk, Orosco. Total fouls — Imbler 14, Adrian 21. Technicals — none.

Southwest Christian rolls

Southwest Christian limited Griswold to just eight first-half points on the way to a 19-8 halftime advantage.

Griswold shot just 9.5 percent (2-of-21) in the first half.

Meanwhile Southwest Christian’s Brittney Adams scored 11 points and pulled down seven rebounds before halftime. Adams finished the game with 20 points and 10 rebounds. Meghan Schroeder led Griswold with 12 points.

Griswold    4    4    12                 8 — 28

Southwest Christian    6    13    9               10 — 38

Griswold (28) — Smith 2 0-0 5, Terjeson 2 0-0 4, Schroeder 4 4-4 12, Meulink, Hack 0 3-4 3, Thompson, Lathrop 0 2-2 2, Ely, McMurray 1 0-0 2. Totals 9 9-10 28.

Southwest Christian (38) — Adams 6 8-9 20, Zochert 1 0-0 2, Gilchrist 2 0-1 4, Meneley 0 3-5 3, Macfarlane 1 1-2 3, Buster, Pearson 1 1-2 3, McConachie 1 0-0 3. Totals 12 13-19 38.

Three-point goals — Smith, McConachie. Fouled out — none. Total fouls — Griswold 15, Southwest Christian 9. Technicals — none.