In the third tournament the SEMO Sizzle 2022 girls basketball team played in at the Cape Girardeau SportsPlex this summer, the team won it all yet again. The Sizzle took home the MAYB Cape Girardeau Tournament Championship by outscoring opponents 200-147 through four games this past weekend.
The first game SEMO was supposed to play in was forfeited by the opposing team, which led them to face off against the Lady Rip Tide (Tennessee) for their first contest of pool play. The Sizzle defeated the Rip Tide handedly at 55-30 as Notre Dame 2022 guard Lexi Rubel scored a team-high 13 points.
Rubel also came down with five rebounds, four assists, two steals and two deflections. Pacing Rubel in points was Jackson 2022 point guard Jordyn “Jo” McClellan with 12, while she also dished out six assists and hit three 3-pointers.
North County 2022 post Kamryn Winch was the third and final player for SEMO Sizzle to score double digits as she finished with 10 against the Lady Rip Tide. Leading the team in rebounds, though, was Anna-Jonesboro 2022 guard Kristin Edmonds with seven as Lexi and Notre Dame 2023 wing Tori Rubel paced her with five boards a piece.
The final game for Sizzle on day one of the tournament was against the Missouri Valley Magic out of Springfield, Missouri, which SEMO was only able to defeat 58-50. However, the Sizzle did at one point hold a 25-point, 50-25 lead in the second half.
Recording the team-high in points was McClellan with 15 as she knocked down three triples once again. Finishing behind her in point total was Winch and Lexi Rubel, who scored 14 and 13 points, respectively.
Rubel also had success from beyond the arc with two threes of her own along with a team-high eight rebounds, five steals and three deflections against the Magic. Winch paced Rubel in boards with a total of seven while also tying for the team high in blocks at two with Benton 2023 shooting guard Ensley Tedeschi.
Going 3-0 on day one earned SEMO Sizzle the No. 1 seed in bracket play as well as a first-round bye, and they faced the Oklahoma Lady Pressure in the semifinals Sunday morning. The Sizzle picked up a 17-point, 44-27 win to move on to the championship as Lexi Rubel scored a game-high 17 points.
Rubel was the only player to eclipse 10 points in the game for SEMO while Winch and McClellan combined 14 (Winch eight, McClellan six). Winch also hauled in nine rebounds as Tori Rubel paced her with four.
For the MAYB Tournament Championship, the Sizzle faced off against Arkansas Flight Johnson, which handed Missouri Valley Magic a 43-40 defeat to advance to the title game. The tournament championship game ended with the exact same score but in favor of SEMO Sizzle.
Leading the Sizzle in scoring was none other than Rubel at 10 points, all of which she scored in the second half. Fellow Notre Dame 2022 guard Leah Jansen finished right behind Rubel with nine points of her own as she also hit two 3-pointers and recorded a team-high three steals.
On top of scoring 10 points, Rubel also led SEMO in rebounds (eight), assists (four) and deflections (two). The third-leading scorer for the Sizzle in the title game was Tori Rubel with seven points as she hit two triples while also collecting three rebounds.
The week prior to the MAYB Tournament, SEMO Sizzle played in a total of 10 games through six days in the Nike Tournament of Champions held in Indianapolis, Indiana. The Sizzle finished with a record of 6-4 overall while playing nationally recognized teams ranging from Chicago, Georgia, Indiana, Kentucky, Michigan, Minnesota, St. Louis and Wisconsin.
Lexi Rubel recorded a team-high points per game average of 13, while also leading the way with three assists, two steals and two deflections per contest. Rubel was also 72% from the free-throw line.
McClellan was behind Rubel at nine points per game, while recording a 3-point percentage of 37%. Tori Rubel led the Sizzle in 3-pointers made at 44% while also averaging eight points, three rebounds and two assists per game.
The fourth-leading scorer for SEMO in the Nike Tournament of Champions was Winch with seven points per game as she led the way in rebounds (eight per game) and blocks (two per game).
