McCulla sisters help Parkway South hold off Fort Zumwalt West

So the Parkway South senior took her anger out on her little sister, sophomore Ava.

It wasn't the first time. 

And it won't be the last.

Alivia gave Ava an extra hard slap on the hand after Alivia exited Monday's game against Fort Zumwalt West.

Ava, who stands 6-foot-1, replaced Alivia on the court and Ava glared back as she shook her hand in temporary discomfort.

"It's my bad," Alivia said. "I had quite a few turnovers so I took it out on her."

Ava didn't mind.

"She does that stuff to me all the time," Ava said. "I'm used to it."

Alivia didn't stay mad for long.

The 6-footer overcame the minor mistakes to pump in 17 points, including six during crunch time, as the Patriots recorded a hard-fought 56-47 win in a non-league girls basketball battle at Parkway South.

The Patriots (14-3) won for the fourth time in a row and the sixth time in the last seven games.

Fort Zumwalt West (12-6) had won four its previous five contests.

The McCulla siblings are always banging and pushing on one another in practice. Their little in-game display Monday brought a chuckle from South coach Thomas Williams.

"They're best friends, but at times you can tell they're sisters," Williams said. "What you saw goes on in practice every single day."

The two actually enjoy picking on one another.

"It's a sister thing," explained South senior Annalise Dorr, who scored a game-high 19 points. "It's just what they do."

Alivia McCulla hit on eight of 10 shots from the field and pulled down seven rebounds.

Her biggest contribution came in the fourth quarter with the game on the line.

Zumwalt West had battled back from a 12-point deficit to get to within 40-39 on a driving layup by sophomore Heidi Pickett, who finished with a team-high 14 points.

Alivia McCulla promptly answered with three baskets in a span of 2 minutes and 49 seconds to put her team back in control 46-40.

"We just turned up the intensity," Alivia McCulla said. "I found an energy changer. I felt like it was time to go, time to up it."

Those three baskets began a 10-2 spurt that put the game away. Dorr added a foul-line jumper and Ava sank a pair of free throws to push the lead to 52-42 with just 65 seconds left in the contest.

"I think we showed some composure when it really mattered," Williams said. "We started getting some better looks and we valued the basketball a little more."

Alivia McCulla recently signed to attend Rockhurst University in Kansas City. She entered Monday's contest averaging 17.8 points and 7.8 rebound per game.

"Alivia is a scoring machine," Williams said. "She scores in bunches."

Ava is scoring at an 11.3 clip and provides defensive muscle near the basket.

"We like to think teams are really afraid to play us because we're a big duo," Alivia said.

South rolled out to early leads of 7-0 and 15-4 behind the McCulla sisters and the two-way play of Dorr. Senior Emme Heimlich added a pair of 3-pointers in the opening nine minutes.

West systematically chipped away and rallied from down 38-28 with 4:38 left in the third. Senior Sara Senseney added a 3-poiner and Makenna Jennings hit a pair of free throws to get their team back into contest.

But Alivia McCulla took over down the stretch and simply would not be stopped.

"The kids know when she's feeling it, they need to get her the ball," Williams said. 

Zumwalt West had won 10 of its previous 12 games and came into the contest with plenty of momentum.

The Jaguars just couldn't get a defensive stop at the right time allowing 14 points over the final 7:01.

"I'm disappointed that when we come into a really good basketball team's place, we don't show up mentally," West coach Chad Towers said. "The better team won tonight."