Lady Hawks to face Lady 'Jays for district title

BLOOMFIELD - The top-seeded Kelly Lady Hawks advanced to the championship game of the Class 3, District 2 Tournament at Bloomfield with a 55-35 win against No. 4 Scott City.

Kelly will play Charleston on Thursday night at 6 p.m. for the championship.

Kelly (21-5) jumped out to a 15-4 first quarter lead and extended it to 32-16 at the half.

Scott City never made a serious run in the second half.

"We're very pleased with the girls' effort against a Scott City team that played very hard tonight," said Kelly head coach Rod McQuerter. "We're looking forward to a tremendous challenge against a very talented Charleston team Thursday night."

Dana Essner led a balanced scoring attack for Kelly with 13 points. Cara Scherer added 11 points and Kelly Essner had 10 points.

But McQuerter was more interested in other things after the game.

"We're really excited about the game tonight, but we're even more excited for one of our seniors, Julia Vetter," said McQuerter. "Julia got accepted with a full-ride scholarship to St. Louis University Medical School. We're very proud of her and what she's accomplished."

In Monday's other girls district game, Charleston defeated Clearwater, 56-51.

In today's boys games, Charleston will face Bloomfield at 6 p.m., followed by the other semifinal between Kelly and Scott City at 7:30 p.m.