The Willow Springs Middle School Lady Bears played host to the Licking Lady Wildcats last night. This was the final home game of the season.  It took the 7th grade Lady Bears 3 games to win it, and the 8th grade team “got ur done in two,” said Coach Valarie Jackson.

7th Grade Scores: Willow Springs  22, 25, 25 and Licking 25, 7, 20.

The Bears had 6 straight possessions of a missed service opportunity in game one. Mikaela Deeds led  in service points with 8 service points in game one. Michaela Cox added 7 service points. Gina Wood contributed 4 service points, 3 aces and a kill.

The Bears bounced back in the second game. Devin Perkins led with 3 kills. She had two in the second game and one in first game. Kelsey Walton led in service points with six.  Maribel Garcia-Espana scored 5 service points and 3 aces, and Cassidy Crewse also had 5 service points to help the Lady Bears to victory.

In game three, Deeds again led with 8 service points, Maribel added 4 points and 3 aces.

8th Grade Scores: Willow Springs 25, 25 and Licking 22, 22

In the 8th grade match, Allie Tooley led the Bears with 4 kills and two service points. Dayla Davis had a good night, she finished with 3 kills and 9 service points, and 7 of those were aces. Kendra Aldridge chipped in with 3 service points and 2 aces. Kassidy Alexander added 3 service points. Shilo Letterman finished the night with 4 service points and a kill.

The next contest will be at West Plains on Monday night.

The Lady Bears had one game this week, losing to the Salem Tigers 12-5.  The Lady Bears face Ava at home on Monday. This will be senior night where the following seniors will be recognized: Kamyrn Hutsell, Alexis Privette, Kysteena Traver, and Tasha Burchett. Lady Bears softball will end its season at Houston on Thursday.

The Lady Bears outscored the Wildcats 18-3, with three inside the park homeruns by Kyndall Bunch, Kyra Bunch, and Katie Rhoades. Emily Durnell pitched the winning game. Tonight, the Lady Bears face the Thayer Bobcats at Thayer. Friday, they will face Koshkonong at the Dora Subway Classic at 4 p.m. That contest continues on Saturday. Come out and support your Lady Bears!

by Megan Caldwell

After defeating Houston in the first game of the Mountain Grove Tournament, the Willow Springs Lady Bears took on the Dora Lady Falcons. The Lady Bears came out on fire, leading the Lady Falcons 42 to 10 by the end of the first half. The Lady Bears continued to build their lead in the second half with a final score of 62 to 20.

Lead scorer was Kyndall Bunch with 19 points. Allisha Shanks contributed 11 points. Kyra Bunch had 10 points. Kayla Roberts had 7 points. Kamryn Hutsell and Stephanie Williams both scored 6 points. Alissa Chapman finished with 3 points.

After coming out on top during the first two games, the Lady Bears were set up to play the host team of the tournament, the Mountain Grove Lady Panthers. The championship game jumped out to a quick start on both sides, but the Lady Panthers had a 15 to 11 lead. The Lady Bears responded with 15 points in the second quarter and a great defensive effort holding Mountain Grove to only 5 points. By the end of the first half the score was 26 to 20 with the Lady Bears on top. In the second half, the Lady Bears continued to extend the lead, winning the tournament with a 50 to 37 victory over Mountain Grove. “I am extremely proud of the focus and composure that our team showed this week. The girls did an excellent job on both ends of the floor, playing great team defense and understanding situations on offense,” said Coach Gutscher after the tournament.

Once again, a Bunch twin was lead scorer for the Lady Bears. This game it was Kyra Bunch contributing 25 points. Kayla Roberts and Kamryn Hutsell  each had 8 points. Kyndall Bunch scored 4 points. Allisha Shanks had 3 points. Stephanie Williams had 2 points.

The All-Tournament team includes Kyra Bunch- Willow Springs. (Tournament MVP), Kyndall Bunch- Willow Springs, Kamryn Hutsell- Willow Springs, Maddie Halford- Mountain Grove, Haley Watson- Mountain Grove, Erica Keeney- Houston.

by Whitney Dampier

Last Thursday night the Willow Springs Bears unsuccessfully took on the Mtn.View Eagles in district play. The Eagles led with a half time score of 28-7 and final game score of 69-14.

Cole Johnson’s passing was 13 for 23. He passed for 137 yards, including one pass that led to a touchdown made by Chris Miller. Miller also had 7 receptions for 72 yards.

Brandon Pitts also scored a touchdown against the Eagles. Pitts also had 13 carries for 136 yards.

The Bears season record was 4-6.

The next game for the Bears was against the Licking Wildcats at home on Friday, May 7th. The Bears had a tough game playing against a very good baseball team and a great ace pitcher. The Bears were only able to get one base hit against the Wildcats’  pitcher Tyler Hunt. However, the Wildcats were able to hit the ball and soon took a substantial lead. The Bears lost the game with a final score of Wildcats-11, Bears-0.

This loss made the Bears’ record drop to a 7-8 and ended the Bears’ four game winning streak.

Then in the bottom of the seventh inning, Eminence was able to run in one more to put them up 11 to 10. This was the final score of the game, and the Bears were stunned to lose in such an upset.

“We fell apart at the end and it was a disappointing loss,” commented Coach Perkins.

The night started off well for the girls’ side. The 4x800m team took 2nd with the time of 12:35. The team consisted of Rachel Lowther, Emily Wehmer, Ciara Sisco, and Kelsie Hutsell. The team of Shelby Bridwell, Jessica Brooks, Brittney Brooks, and Jennifer Gregory took 3rd place in both the Sprint Medley Relay, with the time of 2:10.44, and the 4x100m Relay, with the time of 55.73. Next was the 4x400m Relay with the time of 5:08.66 winning 3rd place. The team was made up of Shelby Bridwell, Ashli Riden, Marie Dominio, and Jane Sherbo. For the field events, Jane Sherbo and Jessica Brooks won 1st place in the High Jump. In the Triple Jump, Jennifer Gregory and Ashli Riden came home with 3rd place. And as for the Discus, Jessica Girdler and Ana Rico also went home with 3rd place.

As for the Boys’ side, it was Michael Grindstaff and Thomas Blair taking home 3rd place in the Long Jump.

Don’t forget about the Coed Shuttle Hurdle Relay taking 2nd. That team consisted of Shelby Bridwell, Brittany Brooks, Nathan Joblonski, and Michael Grindstaff.

Congrats and Good Luck for your next meet at Salem.

This momentum for the Bears carried over to Thursday, April 22, when the Bears took on the Houston Tigers at home. The Bears again had a very successful day. The Bears for the second time in a row won all nine matches. The Bears hope to continue this dominance into next week.

“It was a great week for Willow tennis! Everyone contributed and, at least for this week, we were undefeated. I’m proud of the guys and their hard work,” stated Coach Spence.

In the first inning, the Bears hit the ball very well and were able to jump out to a 2-1 lead over the Bulldogs. There were no more points added to the board until the fourth inning when the Bears would run in another.  The Bears’ pitcher Dalton Woodley continued to pitch superbly and did not allow the Bulldogs to get another run. The Bears would tack on two more scores in the sixth inning to finish the scoring for the game. The game ended and the Willow Springs Bears won with a final score of Bears-5, Bulldogs-1.

The Bears had a great day hitting and pitching and were glad to add another win to their record. The Bears’ conference record is now 3-3 and their total record now stands at 4-7.

“I am proud of them to get a big win after a disappointing loss to Grove,” commented Head Coach Chris Rodgers.