The MIAA championship took place on March 5 at 3:30 pm. After 10 teams entered the tournament, it came down to two teams. The No. 2 Jennies took on against the No. 5 Missouri Southern Lions. The last time the two teams met, the Lions won by three points. 

  The Jennies starting five were Brooke Littrell, Ashley Tull, Olivia Nelson, Robin Campbell, and Lauren Frost. The Lions starters are Layne Skiles, Madi Stokes, Kryslyn Jones, Kaitlin Hunnicutt, and Lacy Stokes. 

  The past two games that the Jennies played started out slow. Jennies had the lead 20-12 after the first quarter. This looked to be a good game for the Jennies as they started strong. This matchup started steadily for them but they quickly lost the tempo as the Lions caught up and took the lead going into the half, 34-30. The Jennies committed nine turnovers and the Lions took advantage by scoring seven points.  

  “I thought we did really well in the first quarter,” Frost said. “We just need to continue that throughout the whole game.”

  In the third quarter, the Lions kept their lead all through the end of the third quarter. The Lions had a score of 51-45. The Lions had a boost of points in the fourth quarter as they completed over 70% of their overall shots. 

  The Lions have shot many three-pointers by completing 57% of their shots. In the second half, the Jennies started to fall behind the Lions. Layne Skiles of the Lions scored the most points 20 while Brooke Littrell scored 14.

  “Overall I’m very proud of this bunch,” head coach Dave Slifer said. “We can play better than we played today. We’ve got to figure out what to do to make sure that this doesn’t happen again.”

  The Jennies lost the game 78-63 and the Lions were crowned the MIAA Champions. The Jennies did earn a spot in the Central Region Tournament. They will play on Friday, March 10 at 7 p.m.