McKaig, Layer carry Pioneer to sectional final

Douglass leads Caston with 12, scores 1,000th career point

BY VAL TSOUTSOURIS

Sports Editor, RTC

Mia McKaig Camila Hernandez-Rios

Girls basketball

Pioneer 34, Caston 29 (Friday): Mia McKaig hit three 3-pointers and scored a game-high 19 points, and Lois Layer added nine as the Pioneer girls basketball team eliminated Caston from the sectional for the second straight year in a Class 1A, Sectional 50 semifinal at North White Friday.

McKaig outscored the entire Caston team 7-5 in the first half, and then she hit two more treys in the third quarter and added six more points in the fourth.

Layer hit a trey in the fourth quarter to help preserve the lead.

Pioneer won despite making just 2 of 9 free throws.

Madi Douglass scored 12 points to lead Caston. Grace Colvin added nine before fouling out, and Allison Craig had eight, all in the second half.

Douglass scored her 1,000th career point during the third quarter. She finished her junior season with 1,006 career points.

Caston went 2 for 22 from 3-point range.

Caston trailed by 10 points at halftime but cut the deficit to 23-21 after three quarters.

Caston beat Pioneer 38-27 in Royal Center on Dec. 16 in their regular season meeting.

Pioneer (10-15) will play West Central, a 59-22 winner over DeMotte Christian, in the final at 7:30 p.m. tonight. West Central beat Pioneer 30-27 in the regular season finale Jan. 31.

Caston finished 11-13. Camila Hernandez-Rios was the lone senior.

CASTON (29) (11-13)

Hadlie Coffing 0 0-0 0, Camila Hernandez-Rios 0 0-0 0, Grace Colvin 3 3-4 9, Madi Douglass 5 1-3 12, Allison Craig 2 3-3 8, Ellie Zartman 0 0-0 0, Natalie Warner 0 0-0 0, Adyson Steininger 0 0-0 0, Gigi Berry 0 0-0 0

TEAM: 10 7-10 29

PIONEER (34) (10-15)

Lois Layer 4 0-0 9, Avery Haselby 0 0-0 0, Mia McKaig 7 2-6 19, Liz Kennell 2 0-3 4, Hannah Zeigler 1 0-0 2, Leah Zeigler 0 0-0 0, Mya Ott 0 0-0 0

TEAM: 14 2-9 34

Three-point field goals:

Caston 2 (Douglass, Craig),

Pioneer 4 (McKaig 3, Layer)

Total fouls: Caston 15, Pioneer 14

Fouled out: Colvin (CAS)

Turnovers: Caston 12, Pioneer 12

Score by quarters

Caston 3 2 16 8 – 29

Pioneer 6 9 8 11 – 34