The St. James High girls’ basketball squad finished 1-2 in the 32nd annual California Tournament, falling to Father Tolton Catholic 53-36 in the consolation finals Friday, Jan. 16.

Earlier in the tourney the Lady Tigers fell to Boonville 78-30 in the first round Monday, Jan. 12 and defeated Warrensburg 54-45 in consolation action Wednesday, Jan. 14.

Tipton knocked off Boonville 69-58 in the championship game while host California clipped Columbia Battle 42-41 in the third-place game.

St. James was 6-7 entering this week.

This week the Lady Tigers are to host the St. James Girls’ Tournament, to be held Tuesday through Saturday, Jan. 20-24 at the St. James High gym. Norwood is the top-seeded team while Fatima is seeded No. 2, St. James No. 3, Waynesville No. 4, Steelville No. 5, Licking No. 6, Southern Boone No. 7 and Gateway Legacy Christian Academy No. 8.

Tuesday, Jan. 20 in the first round  is was Norwood vs. Gateway Legacy, Waynesville vs. Steelville, Fatima vs. Southern Boone and St. James vs. Licking.

Friday, Jan. 23 the Norwood/Gateway loser was to play the Waynesville/Steelville loser at 3:30 p.m. while the Fatima/Southern Boone loser was to meet the St. James/Licking loser at 5 p.m. in consolation action, and in semifinal play the Norwood/Gateway winner plays the Waynesville/Steelville winner at 6:30 p.m. while the Fatima/Southern Boone winner takes on the St. James/Licking winner at 8 p.m.

Saturday, Jan. 24 the seventh-place game was slated for 10:30 a.m., the fifth-place game for noon, the third-place game for 3 p.m. and the championship game for 6 p.m.

California Tourney

Consolation Final, Jan. 16 - Father Tolton 53, STJ 36: Frigid second and third quarters were costly for the Lady Tigers. St. James fired out fast, outscoring Father Tolton 17-10 in the first quarter, as junior guard Payge Kemnitzer tallied seven points. However, St. James was limited to just a field goal and free throw the rest of the half, as it was outscored 15-3 in the second period and trailed 25-20 at halftime.

The scoring woes continued in the third period as the Lady Tigers were outscored 13-6 in the third quarter and trailed 38-26 entering the fourth quarter.

“We got off to a great start,” said St. James head coach Terry Wells. “Playing at our pace, we were calm and creating great shots. Towards the end of the first quarter, however, we got off the course. We didn’t handle pressure, didn’t finish and we lost our composure. Our bad runs were lasting way too long.”

Kemnitzer paced St. James with 12 points.

The individual scoring (FG-FT-TP):

St. James (6-7): Kemnitzer 5-0-12. Richardson 2-1-7, Campbell 1-0-3, Smith 2-3-7, Roark 1-0-2, Costoplos 0-3-3, Deluca 1-0-2, Totals 12-7-36.

Father Tolton (8-8): Wray 5-4-15, Schicher 0-3-3, Ross 1-0-3, Kotousky 4-3-13, Stallo 4-0-10, Cox 2-0-5, Wright 1-2-4, Totals 17-12-53.

The score by periods:

St. James        17   3   6 10-36

Father Tolton 10 15 13 15-53

Consolation, Jan. 14 - STJ 54, Warrensburg 45: With six different players getting points, the Lady Tigers roared out to a 19-6 lead after the first period. Warrensburg would chip away the rest of the half, outscoring STJ 13-9 and trimming its halftime deficit to 28-19.

Warrensburg continued to close the gap in the third period, holding St. James to seven points and cutting the Lady Tiger edge to 35-30 entering the fourth quarter. But St. James held on, hitting eight-of-14 free throws and finishing with 19 points in the period.

“A great start was the key,” Wells said. “They regrouped and made some runs at us in the second half, but each time we were able to come up with a stop and a basket. We did a great job in the fourth quarter of protecting the ball and hitting some free throws.”

Kemnitzer scored 12 points and senior Avery Campbell and senior Sophie Deluca 10 each for the Lady Tigers.

The individual scoring:

St. James: Kemnitzer 3-4-12, Richardson 2-2-6, Campbell 2-6-10, Smith 2-2-7, Roark 2-0-5, Costoplos 2-0-4, Deluca 4-2-10, Totals 17-16-54.

Warrensburg (6-8): Wilson 3-0-9, Lightfoot 4-0-11, Douglas 1-0-2, Mannering 2-0-5, Buck 2-1-5, Reasbeck 3-0-9, Lewis 1-1-4, Totals 16-2-45.

The score by periods:

Warrensburg    6 13 11 15-45

St. James        19   9   7 19-54

First Round, Jan. 12 - Boonville 78, STJ 30: It was all Boonville from the start. Boonville erupted for 27 points in the opening period and was in control the rest of the way. St. James was outscored 20-3 in the second quarter and was down 47-15 at intermission. Boonville put it away with a 22-point third quarter.

Kemnitzer scored 13 for the Lady Tigers.

“We showed a lot of rust and also ran into a very good basketball team,” Wells said. “We look forward to getting back in the groove. They just beat us in every single facet of the game.”

The individual scoring:

St. James: Kemnitzer 4-1-13, Richardson 2-0-5, Campbell 1-0-3, Smith 0-1-1, Drennan 1-0-2, Deluca 2-2-6, Totals 10-4-30.

Boonville (11-2): Baker 2-0-4, Drummond 8-1-18, Cooper 4-0-11, Morris 6-2-14, Lowe 7-1-16, Rohrbach 3-0-6, Ritchie 1-0-3, Giroux 2-2-6, Totals 33-6-78.

The score by periods:

St. James   12   3   9  6-30

Boonville  27 20 22  9-78