The Lebanon High School girls’ basketball team used a 32 point first quarter to pull away from the Belton Pirates in the first round of the Mid-Missouri Bank I-44 Lady’s Classic on Thursday night in Boswell Auditorium.
Lebanon senior Kori Cromer led all scorers with 26 points in the 79-29 victory. Cromer also netted her 1,000th career point in the third quarter of Thursday’s contest. Cromer played her first three years of high school basketball at Marshfield before transferring to Lebanon for her senior season.
The Southwest Baptist University signee is averaging 15.8 points, 2.8 steals, 3.2 assists, and 2.9 rebounds per game.
Head coach Jacky Payne had high praise for his standout point guard.
“I thought Kori was on her game defensively and offensively,” he stated. “I thought she was more aggressive, and we need her to play like that.
“She is stepping into things better and is feeling more at ease. She is so unselfish that she would rather get an assist than score. I told her the other day in practice to look to score more, and she has taken that to heart.”
Lebanon jumped out to a 27-6 lead early in the game as Cromer, and senior Makayah Alexander combined for 25 of the 32 points in the first eight minutes.
Freshman Jacee Peterson scored seven points, Selby Miller and Destiny Zimdars chipped in six points, while Chloe Shivers and Hannah Henson scored two points. Freshman Faith Coffman added a point, too.
For the complete story, see the Weekend edition of the Laclede County Record.
