Parker Eshelman photo

Members of the Hickman girls basketball team watch as officials decide whether their game against Rock Bridge should continue as a towel soaks up water from the leaky roof of the school’s gymnasium last night. The game was suspended with 6:50 left in the third quarter.

Last night’s highly anticipated high school girls basketball game between Rock Bridge and state-ranked Hickman was supposed to decide which team was better this season.

Instead, it only proved what most everyone already knew.

Hickman really needs another gymnasium.

A capacity crowd of about 1,400 filled Hickman gym for the game pitting Columbia’s two 15-win teams, but a leaky roof caused the game to be delayed 50 minutes early in the third quarter before officials from both schools decided to suspend the game.

The leaks, which caused slippery spots on two areas of the west half of the basketball court, were discovered with 6:50 remaining in the third quarter and Rock Bridge leading 20-19. The game was immediately stopped while Hickman officials raced to the gym’s rafters in an attempt to rectify the situation.

When the leaks continued, the game was suspended and the gym was cleared.

The game is tentatively scheduled to pick up where it left off - same score, same foul situation, same officials - at 6 p.m. Monday in the same place. Hickman will have possession of the ball.

Because the game was a sellout - some late-arriving fans were actually turned away at the ticket window - admission is free to the first 1,400 fans that squeeze into Hickman gym for the final two quarters.

Bring your umbrella.

"I don’t know what to think," Rock Bridge Coach Jill Nagel said. "I hate it for the crowd. That was awesome. It’s great for Columbia to have this many people here watching two good teams."

No one - from the players and coaches to the fans of either team - seemed too happy about the unfinished business left on the court.

"I’m mad, disappointed, frustrated - all of the above," Hickman senior Lauren Nolke said. "The game’s 32 minutes, and we kind of got cheated out of that."

Hickman Athletic Director Doug Mirts understood everyone’s disappointment.

"It was a good basketball atmosphere, and then you have to stop midway with a one-point differential and then restart at some point," Mirts said. "It’s very difficult emotionally. We just do not want to risk injury with these kids."

The first hint of a problem started when Hickman standout Yvonne Anderson slipped to the floor near the top of the key trying to defend Rock Bridge guard Andrea Seabaugh.

Play continued but was stopped seconds later by a Rock Bridge foul near the spot where Anderson slipped. The leak was identified, play was halted and Hickman officials went to work trying to remedy the problem.

The leaks were a continuation of problems that developed last week when melting ice and snow on the gym roof caused a leak to continuously drip on a wrestling mat during the Hickman Invitational.

Mirts thought he had all of the leaks identified early this week but said that the warm gym air generated by last night’s large crowd might have played a factor in some of those drips moving along poles via condensation in the rafters cool and damp environment.

"It’s embarrassing" said Hickman Coach Tonya Mirts, whose team practiced on Monday and Tuesday in the gym without any problems. "We just thought it was a few leaks, and it’s the whole building apparently."

The leaks caused the suspension of what has the makings of a classic basketball game.

Hickman, ranked second in Class 5 with a 15-1 record, forced eight Rock Bridge turnovers in the first quarter to bolt to a 13-2 lead. With the Rock Bridge cheering section booing Anderson every time she touched the ball, the Alabama transfer - who chose to attend Hickman when her father was hired to coach the Missouri men’s basketball team - scored all but four of her team’s points as the Kewpies built a 17-4 lead.

Rock Bridge (15-2) finally solved Hickman’s full-court pressure to string together a 14-0 run in the second quarter that put the Bruins in front 18-17. Five players scored for the Bruins during the run that Amaya Williams started with a driving basket.

A conventional three-point play by Ashley Dressler and banked in 3-pointer by M.E. Kanago right in front of the Hickman student cheering section were part of the run that Dressler completed with a put-back of a missed Seabaugh free throw.

Anderson snapped the run with a driving basket to give her 15 points and briefly put the Kewpies back in front, but Dressler answered with another basket to give the Bruins a halftime lead. Dressler’s seven second-quarter points lead Rock Bridge, but the 6-foot senior picked up her third foul with three seconds remaining in the half.

Dressler’s foul situation will be one of many situations to keep an eye on when the game resumes Monday.

"All I really can say is it’s unfortunate for both teams and the crowd that the game had to be put off like this, but there’s still a whole ’nother half to play," Rock Bridge junior Claire Schaepperkoetter said. "You can’t really predict what’s going to happen. It’s going to be a new experience for me. We’ll see what happens."

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