Ray-Pec boys, Belton girls to play in Class 5, District 9 title games

By CHRISTIAN D ORR

JournalEditor                                                                                                                                  

Tuesday night saw the boys take over the District tournaments for Cass County schools with Harrisonville, Ray-Pec and Belton getting into action.

The Raymore-Peculiar boys’ basketball team played its way into the Class 5, District 9 championship game Tuesday night with a 69-67 victory over Hickman in the Tuesday night’s semifinal round.

The victory Tuesday night moves the Panthers back to a .500 (13-13) record. Ray-Pec will face tournament-host and top-seed Columbia Rock Bridge for district title at 7 p.m. this Friday night.

The Belton Pirate boys saw their season come to an end Tuesday night following a 72-47 loss to top-seed, and district host, Columbia Rock Bridge. The Pirates ended the 2018-19 season with a 5-19 record, while Rock Bridge takes a 18-3 record into the district championship game Friday night.

Cass County will have a boys team and a girls team playing in each Class 5, District 9 championship game Friday night.

Cass County will be represented by the Belton girls against tournament-host Rock Bridge at 5:30. Cass County will then be represented by the Ray-Pec boys in the boys’ title tilt at 7 p.m.

The first step in that “state-championship goal” begins with a district championship, which is what Missouri high school teams began playing this past Saturday.

Two Cass County teams were paired up in play-in games for their respective district tournaments.

The Belton boys, whose season ended Tuesday night,  extended their season with a 56-50 victory over Smith-Cotton in the Class 5, District 9 play-in game, but the Ray-Pec girls saw their 2018-19 season come to an end this past Saturday night when they saw their season ended after a 56-41 defeat to Smith-Cotton in the girls side of the Class 5, District 9 tournament.

The Pirate boys improved to 4-19 on the season and snapped a two-game losing skid with the victory over Smith-Cotton. Belton advanced to the semifinals, where they met up with Rock Bridge, the District’s No. 1 seed with a 17-3 record going into the match-up.

The Lady Panthers, meanwhile, saw their season come to an end after a 6-20 campaign with the 56-41 defeat by Smith-Cotton.

The  Ray-Pec girls ended the 2018-19 season with eight straight losses. Smith-Cotton took a 4-18 record into its semifinal contest against Rock Bridge, but Rock Bridge held serve on its home court, earning a 65-46 win, pushing it to the District championship game against Belton.

Belton took a 12-12 record into its semifinal showdown with Hickman and came away with a 36-32 victory and berth in the District title match, scheduled for Friday, March 1.

Harrisonville did not get its District action started until Monday, Feb. 25, but the extra time to practice didn’t seem to help the Wildcats or the Lady Wildcats, as they both lost their play-in games.

The Lady Wildcats were the first ones to take the court, Monday, Feb. 25, when they played Centre in their Class 4, District 13 play-in game. The Lady Wildcats, however, saw their season come to an end after falling to Center 62-50.

Harrisonville’s girls team finished the 2018-19 season with a 13-11 record. Center improved to 15-7 on the season with the victory.

The Wildcat boys, meanwhile, took to the court Tuesday, Feb. 26, against Nevada, and the end result was the same. Harrisonville’s boys fell 80-65 to Nevada, seeing their season end after a 6-18 campaign.