High School

Lift for Life girls win MSHSAA Class 5 state basketball championship; scoring, live updates, recap

Amaya Manuel fuels big half, finishes with double double as Lady Hawks win Class 5 Show-Me Showdown at Mizzou Arena

Levi Payton

Lift for Life Academy junior guard Zha'viara Harris looks to help her team go back-to-back in the Class 5 girls state championship at the Show-Me Showdown at Mizzou Arena in Columbia.
Lift for Life Academy junior guard Zha'viara Harris looks to help her team go back-to-back in the Class 5 girls state championship at the Show-Me Showdown at Mizzou Arena in Columbia. / Tim Vizer

For the first time in more than 30 years, the St. Teresa’s Academy girls basketball team will play for a state championship today when they take on Lift for Life Academy in the MSHSAA Class 5 Show-Me Showdown at Mizzou Arena.

Lift for Life, meanwhile, is making its first trip to the finals since, well, last season. The Lady Hawks (21-6) are the defending champions after going 28-3 last year. They are chasing their third title in program history after winning their first in 2020-2021.

Tipoff is scheduled for 4 p.m.

The Stars (21-5) are in the finals for only the second time in program history. They took second in their only other trip.

A very young team, St. Teresa’s only has three seniors on their roster. One of those seniors, Nora Roddy, is second on the team in scoring, averaging 10 points and 5.4 rebounds per game.

Their other top scorers are sophomores. Jazlyn Rhodes leads the team with 14.2 points per game while also averaging 4.1 rebounds, 3.9 assists and 4.3 steals. Fellow sophomore Addi Moylan is third on the team averaging 9.6 points, two assists and 2.4 steals.

Backed by a suffocating defense that has held opponents to just 39.3 points per game, St. Teresa’s enters the day on an eight-game winning streak. After holding Kearney to just 19 points in the District 8 semifinals, they bested Platte County 53-47 to win the crown before moving on to best Grandview in the quarterfinals (49-39). They got past Helias Catholic 47-44 in the semifinals on Friday.

After losing two of three games entering the Class 5 District 2 Tournament, the Lady Hawks haven’t had any issues since. They’ve blown out St. Joseph’s Academy (57-36), Cardinal Ritter (66-45), Farmington (61-33) and Ft. Zumwalt South (58-26) to get here.

They have a stout defense of their own. After allowing 46.9 points a year ago, the Lady Hawks are even better this year, surrendering just 44.6 points to opposing offenses.

The key to this one likely comes down to both defenses. As good as their defense is, the Stars aren't an offensive juggernaut. They average 49.3 points per game this season and have scored 50 or more points in only 14 of their 26 games. The Lady Hawks, meanwhile, average 65.4 points and have scored 50 or more in 24 of 28 games.

Bookmark this page and check back often, as we will be posting scoring and live updates from today's game in the space below once the game begins.

Lift for Life Academy vs. St. Teresa's Academy: MSHSAA girls Class 5 state championship; scoring, live updates

Starting lineups

St. Teresa’s Academy: Jazlyn Rhodes, Addi Moylan, Nora Roddy, Lauren Rando, Mabel Bland

Lift for Life Academy: Amaya Manuel, Zha Harris, Diamond Polk, Cara Manuel, Rian Lenox

FIRST QUARTER:

Lift for Life Academy is off to a big start in the first quarter. After the game was knotted 4-4, the Lady Hawks are off on an 8-0 run and lead 12-4 with 2:13 left in the first.

The Lady Hawks run is 13-0 and has spanned the last 4:22. Amaya Manuel already has 10 points and it’s 18-4.

End 1: Lift for Life Academy 20, St. Teresa's Academy 6. Amaya Manuel already has 12 points for the Lady Hawks.

SECOND QUARTER

The Lady Hawks continue to be relentless on both ends of the floor. After the Stars get a basket to by Rhodes to open the second quarter, the Lady Hawks respond with four of their own and it's 24-8 with 5:07 remaining in the half.

Halfway through the second quarter, Lift for Life has hit 10 of 15 shots, including 2 of 3 on 3-pointers, while St. Teresa's has opened 4 of 15 from the field with seven turnovers.

This game has slowed considerably. Neither team has scored a basket in over four minutes here in the second quarter. The Lady Hawks have turned it over on their last few possessions without getting off a shot. It's 25-8 with 3:57 left in the half.

Roddy breaks the scoring drought for the Stars. She gets two quick buckets and the Lady Hawks call timeout with 2:56 left in the half. Lift for Life leads, 25-12.

Off the timeout, Amaya Manuel and Saudia Brock score quick baskets for the Lady Hawks to push their lead to 29-12. Manuel now has 15 points on 6 of 7 shooting.

Harris makes a free throw and goes down later to add another basket and Lift for Life extends its lead to 32-12.

Halftime: Lift for Life Academy 32, St. Teresa's Academy 12.

Halftime notes: Amaya Manuel leads all scorers with 15 points and has six rebounds for the Lady Hawks, while Zha Harris has seven points, Saudia Brock and Cara Manuel have four and Diamond Polk has two. … Jazlyn Rhodes leads the Stars with six points, while Nora Roddy has four and Mabel Bland has three. … The Stars were scoreless over the last 3 minutes, 24 seconds of the first half. … Lift for Life closed the half on a 7-0 run.

THIRD QUARTER

Polk scores just 26 seconds into the third and the Lady Hawks have the first points of the second half.

Rhodes makes four free throws across two possessions and adds another basket the next time down to cut it to 34-18. She now has 12 points and her own 6-0 run here in the third.

A jumper by Kahmyla Bell gives the Lady Hawks a 40-20 lead with 3:40 to go in the third.

Two free throws and a basket from Roddy gives her eight points and cuts the Lady Hawks' lead to 40-24 with just under three minutes remaining.

A basket by Bell with 1:24 left in the third pushes the lead back to 20 points, 44-24.

Harris scores to give her 11 and Lift for Life a 46-24 lead, but Moylan scores with no time left on the clock for St. Teresa's to bring the deficit back to 20 entering the fourth.

End 3: Lift for Life Academy 46, St. Teresa's Academy 26

Note: After being held to just 12 points in the first half, St. Teresa's offense netted 14 in the third quarter alone.

FOURTH QUARTER

With 5:58 left in regulation, Lift for Life leads 49-31.

Amaya Manuel just picked up her 10th rebound with 4:45 left in regulation to give her a double double. She's been fantastic with 17 points.

The Lady Hawks have pushed their lead back to 20 (51-31) with 4:41 remaining.

After a lopsided first half, these teams have played dead even in the second half. Of course, that means St. Teresa's has gained no ground and still trail big.

With 2:48 remaining, Lift for Life leads St. Teresa's 57-33.

As Rhodes and Roddy both hit free throws here down the stretch for the Stars, it's important to highlight how well those two have played. Rhodes has 18 points so far and Roddy has 11.

Rhodes scores with 1:07 remaining to put her in a tie with Manuel with a game-high 21 points.

Final: Lift for Life 63, St. Teresa's 42

Recap

Amaya Manuel scored 12 points in the first half as Lift for Life raced out to a 20-6 lead in the first quarter and never looked back. The Lady Hawks kept that momentum in the second quarter and led 32-12 at halftime.

Manuel finished with a double double, scoring 21 points and adding 10 rebounds.

Zha Harris had 13 points for Lift for Life, while Cara Manuel finished with eight, Kahmyla Bell, Saudia Brock and Diamond Polk each had six, Bre Davidson had two and Rian Lenox added one point and seven rebounds.

Jazlyn Rhodes led the Stars with 21 points, while Nora Roddy chipped in 11, Addi Moylan six and Mabel Bland and Mary Harman had two each. Roddy also added seven rebounds.

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Levi Payton
LEVI PAYTON

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