(Moberly, MO) The Mineral Area Lady Cardinals and Cardinals sweep the Moberly Lady Greyhounds and Greyhounds in a Region 16 showdown that featured a rematch of both of last year’s Region 16 Championships on Saturday.
The Lady Greyhounds had a fiery start to the game jumping to a quick 5-0 lead and maintained an advantage until late in the first frame when No. 22-MAC used a 7-1 run to get their first lead at 11-10, with 3:15 left off of back-to-back 3-pointers from Jaelah Clayton.
A perfect trip to the free throw line by Aziah Campbell gave Moberly the one point lead back, but again the Lady Cardinals would answer when Katelyn Chomko did the same and MAC never trailed after this point.
Maddie Ayers converted on the and-1 after a dribble-drive runner to gain separation and the Lady Cards settled in, finishing off the quarter with a lead of 18-13.
MAC (16-1, 2-0) scored 20 points or more in each of three remaining quarters en route to their first road win at Moberly since 2019, winning 81-64.
Katelyn Chomko led the Lady Birds with 15 points and was 5-of-6 from the foul stripe. Jaelah Clayton hit three 3-point field goals and contributed a total of 14 points. Nine other Lady Cardinals scored in the win.
Even with the spread of the scoring on the MAC scoresheet, it was defense that was key in the first half as the Lady Cards held Moberly’s season leader Destiny Bynum-Johnson scoreless at the end of the first half. Lady Cardinal head coach, Briley Palmer, says the defense played exceptionally well in the road win.
Bynum-Johnson would finish with just 8 points to the Lady Greyhound effort, while Anjelicia Del Valle paced Moberly with 13 points, and Deziree’ Bryant totaled 10 points.
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In the night cap of the MAC doubleheader, No. 7-Mineral Area handled No. 16-Moberly Greyhounds 61-46.
The Cardinals’ suppressive defense proved too tough to escape as they held the Moberly Greyhounds to just 19 points at halftime.
Mineral Area held Moberly’s offense that had averaged 79 points-per-game, to just 46 points total, the lowest scoring output for Moberly since December 16, 2022 when Sauk Valley held the Greyhounds to the same score.
In fact the Cardinals defense led to a 14 minute stretch where MAC didn’t allow a field goal, while outscoring Moberly 27-2 in that stretch to go from trailing 17-13, to leading 40-19.
Battles between the whistles carried over after play had stopped multiple times and it came to a boiling point midway through the second half. After a held ball was blown dead, teams came together exchanging words.
Tempers began to flair and MAC’s Rich Mawutor was given a Flagrant-2 and ejection after a retaliatory shove of a Greyhound. Mawutor was given a 2-game suspension with the ejection and will not be available until Saturday, January 20 when he Cards host Jefferson College.
Cardinals head coach, Greg Heiar, was not pleased with the way his team handled themselves throughout the game.
Marcus Watson Jr. led all scorers with 16 points, Josh Meo added 13, and Amarion Dickerson, who was with MAC for all four losses to Moberly last season, contributed 12 points in the win.
It’s the first Cardinals win against Moberly since Dec. 1, 2021.
MAC had a fast turnaround playing at home Monday afternoon and beating Lincoln Land 73-51. In the win Josh Meo set a season high in points with 28. Coach Heiar spoke after the game about Meo’s performance after a tough game last Wednesday against West Plains.
The Cardinals are now 17-0 and 2-0 in Region 16 play. Both MAC programs will host State Fair Wednesday on KFMO and KFMOsportsPLUS.