Grain Valley defeats Raytown

by Bill Althaus
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Following a recent practice session Grain Valley High School girls basketball coach Randy Draper turned to his assistant Brock Tieffenbrun and said, "I'd pay to watch our team play."

And it was easy to see why the veteran coach made that comment following a 78-31 mercy-rule victory over Raytown Monday night on the Eagles home court.

The score was tied 7-7 at the 3:26 mark of the first quarter when the Eagles went on a 12-0 run to finish with a 23-9 lead after the first quarter.

"We corrected a couple of things early in the game - that's why it was 7-7 - and then, we started playing some pretty darned good basketball," Draper said. "I just love the way we're playing right now. They're a fun, exciting group to watch."

Addy Seyfert finished with 19 points in less than three quarters and her running mate Madison Rust added 14 before Draper brought every Eagles player off the bench.

A total of 16 players competed for the Eagles and everyone scored at least one point.

"It's so much fun to play, especially when our starters are cheering for us from the bench," senior guard Pyper Hartigan said. "I tore my ACL last June at a camp at Pitt State, and our girls have been so supportive. We've had some close teams since I've been playing here, but I think this might be the closest team I've played for."

With reserves playing most of the second half, Eagles starters like Rust, Seyfert, Cam Kelly, Aspen Reed and Bella Bollinger looked like they were catapulted off the bench whenever a teammate scored.

"It's as much fun cheering for our girls who come off the bench as it is playing," Seyfert said. "We want to cheer as loud as we can so they know how much we appreciate them. We're so proud when they play because they work as hard as we do and they deserve the playing time."

The Eagles stingy defense allowed just six second-half points as Grain Valley led 48-15 at the half.

With most of the starters out of the game, Grain Valley scored 19 points in the third quarter and finished with the 47-point victory.

"I took some notes tonight," Draper said, "because there is always room for improvement. But we're playing really well right now and need to keep playing like this the rest of the season."

A'lurea Atkinson led the Blue Jays with 10 points.

Grain Valley's leading scorer Addy Seyfert hits a long 3-pointer early in the Eagles' 78-31 victory over visiting Raytown. Seyfert finished with 19 points in less than three quarters of play. Photo credit: Bill Althaus

Members of the Grain Valley High School basketball team, from left, Chloe Hernandez, Cara McHardie, Avery Lunn, Melanie Marcum and Malaina Green came off the bench and saw plenty of action Monday night as the Eagles defeated Raytown 78-31. With starters playing less than three quarters of the game, coach Randy Draper used 16 players in the victory and each of them scored at least one point. Photo credit: Bill Althaus