​Grain Valley trio comes up clutch in 62-59 win over Lee’s Summit

by Michael Smith, Grain Valley News
 
 
Veteran head coach Randy Draper said Bella Bollinger was frustrated after the team’s 59-46 loss in the semifinals of the Winnetonka Invitational’s Cardinal Division.
 
Because of that, she was hard at work the next morning, working on her game.
 
“She was back in the gym in the morning getting up shots,” Draper said. “That’s how you answer. You get back to work.”
 
That work ethic paid off in Friday’s third-place game against Lee’s Summit. She scored a career-high 25 points and she was aided by some clutch plays from junior Madison Rust and senior Chloe Hernandez in a 62-59 victory at Winnetonka High School.
 
“We played simpler, which is good for us,” Draper said. “We did a great job defensively on them.”
 
Grain Valley went into the fourth period trailing 43-39 and Bollinger helped her team get back in it with a 3-pointer from the top of the key, a cutting layup and a free throw. The latter tied the game at 48-48, but the Tigers countered with a 6-0 run as junior Ryann Arnold scored six of her game-high 33 points during the run to put her team up 54-48.
 
A trey from Grain Valley senior Aspen Reed cut the advantage to 54-51 then the Eagles got a stop on defense and Rust made a cutting layup to narrow the gap to one on the following possession.
 
After both teams came up empty on their next two possessions, Hernandez hit a cutting Rust who put the team up for good with a layup to make it 55-54. That sparked a 6-0 run capped by a corner 3-pointer from Hernandez, which put the Eagles up 59-54.
 
Arnold brought the Tigers back with a layup and a 3-pointer that was sandwiched around a cutting layup from Bollinger to pull within 61-59. Rust was fouled with 18.6 seconds left and split a pair of free throws to put the team up by three.
 
Lee’s Summit missed a layup on the other end and Hernandez secured the rebound for the win as Grain Valley improved to 2-1.
 
“I think our team chemistry is getting better and we are moving the ball well,” Bollinger said. “We’re hitting the shots that we should hit.
 
“Chloe has been doing good this season. It’s a lot of help.”
 
Bollinger started out hot, scoring 11 points in the first period as her team took a 20-17 advantage. Freshman Sophia Epping made a 3-pointer and a fast-break layup in the second as the Eagles pushed the lead to 32-24 at halftime as their defense limited Lee’s Summit.
 
Arnold went off for 11 points in the second half as Lee’s Summit forced turnovers that led to baskets in transition in the third period as it pulled ahead 43-39 going into the fourth.
 
From there, clutch plays from Rust, Bollinger and Hernandez sealed it for Grain Valley.
 
“We knew we needed to cut and slip to the basket more in the second half,” Rust said. “We got good shots off of that and that helped us.”
 

Juniors Madison Rust, left, and Bella Bollinger score 14 and 25 points, respectively, to help the Grain Valley girls basketball team take a 62-59 victory over Lee's Summit in the third-place game of the Winnetonka Invitational. Photo credit: Michael Smith, Grain Valley News
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