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Strong defense propels Kirksville girls to Macon Tournament title

Austin Miller/Daily Express
Posted 1/22/22

Statement made. Behind one of its best defensive showings of the season and a great night of shooting, the Kirksville girls basketball team pounced on Macon in the title game at the 44th annual Macon …

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Strong defense propels Kirksville girls to Macon Tournament title

Posted

Statement made.

Behind one of its best defensive showings of the season and a great night of shooting, the Kirksville girls basketball team pounced on Macon in the title game at the 44th annual Macon Invitational Tournament. The Tigers won 57-44 to win the tournament for the first time since 2012.

“That’s big for our program. It’s been a while since we’ve won a tournament championship,” said Kirksville coach Nick Totta. “… Any time you’re winning, it helps build your confidence. Macon, last year, they put it on us pretty good here last year, so it’s good to come in and — if there was any doubt, hopefully it was removed because, hey, we can play with good people.”

Kirksville raced out to a huge lead in the second quarter, riding its defense to a bunch of Macon turnovers and plenty of points for themselves. Totta challenged his players to meet Macon’s physicality. They responded with a tough, gritty performance to take down the Tigerettes. Kirksville outscored Macon 19-6 in the second quarter and had a lead it wouldn’t relinquish.

And that was with Macon getting star guard Lexi Miller back from injury. Miller sat out Kirksville’s 45-34 win over the Tigerettes on Jan. 11, but returned for this second meeting. And though she made her presence felt later — scoring 20 of her game-high 26 points in the second half — it wasn’t enough. Kirksville put together a stronger showing against a full-strength Tigerettes team.

“I think we just knew there was a challenge because they had Miller back, so knowing we really had to pick it up, we came together and knew we had to zone in,” said Kirksville junior guard Channing Totta.

To go along with Kirksville’s good defense in the quarter, Channing Totta came up huge on the offensive end. She hit a trio of 3-pointers in the second quarter to pad her team’s lead. Channing Totta ended up as the Tigers’ leading scorer for the night with 16 points.

“We talked about it being a prizefight and we wanted to come out and throw the first punch,” said coach Nick Totta. “But we knew after half that they would come out and counterpunch. But I just thought when you cause some turnovers, that leads to good offense.”

Up 25-14 at half, Kirksville knew Macon would adjust and battle back.

Miller started her second-half barrage with 10 points in the third quarter. She hit a 3-pointer just before the third-quarter buzzer to cut Kirksville’s lead back to single digits. She hit back-to-back 3s in the fourth to cut Kirksville’s lead to 49-39 with 4:03 left. The Tigers answered by going 10-for-12 from the free-throw line in the final quarter to stay ahead.


Kirksville is putting together at great resume heading into the last stretch of January. At 14-2, the Tigers top the win total from last year’s 13-11 run. Those are the most wins by the program since 2013.

In their last two games at the Macon Tournament, the beat Mexico (10-3) 40-31. The Bulldogs are ranked fifth in Class 4 by the state coaches association. And Saturday gave Kirksville a second win over Macon (12-4), who is ninth in those same rankings. Those wins also help Kirksville’s case for a No. 1 seed in its district, which Macon and Mexico are also in.

But the Tigers aren’t worrying about what other coaches in the state think of them.

“I think it says we’re playing good basketball,” Totta said. “You could go in and say, ‘Hey, why are you unranked?’ Look, the only ranking you want is at the end of the year. … I think we’re a quality team and I think we’re a tough out. What others think about us, let that happen. In our locker room, we feel we’re a pretty capable team.”

“I think we’re showing that we are a good team. We are a competitor, so we come in and we are preying on other people, and they have to be able to compete with us,” Channing Totta said. “When you see the name Kirksville, I think we’re making a name for ourselves.”

Looking at key games left on Kirksville’s schedule, they have a third meeting with Mexico on Jan. 28. They’ll see Palmyra, ranked 10th in Class 3, a second time on Feb. 2. Kirksville beat them 49-39 at the Highland Tournament. Then the Tigers head to Moberly (11-5) on Feb. 8. And a Feb. 17 date at Chillicothe (14-2), the fourth-ranked team in Class 4, is also to come.

As good as things have gone for the Tigers, they feel they still have a higher level they can play at.

“I think we’re flying under the radar, being the underdog,” said freshman guard Elli Porter, who scored 15 points. “Us working together as a team and knowing we have the ability to beat other teams, that’s more motivation.”

“It’s cool seeing us start to meet our potential, but still knowing there’s so much more,” Channing Totta said. “I think the biggest thing has been our team dynamic. We trust each other a lot more, so I think that has really contributed to our success.”



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