The Higbee girls remain in the state Top 10 after falling to Class 3 Fr. Tolton 69-56 at Moberly Area Community College on Saturday.

The Lady Tigers are tied at No. 10 in Class 1 with Nodaway Valley.

Saturday’s game marked the second straight game against a Class 3 team on a neutral site. On Dec. 22, they trounced Lamar 48-27 at the 12 Courts of Christmas at HyVee Arena in Kansas City.

After tying Saturday’s game 13-13 at the end of the first quarter, Higbee was outscored by 21 points by Tolton over the second and third quarters to trail 53-32 with eight minutes to play.

Higbee mounted a late comeback, winning the fourth quarter 24-16 and came within six points of the lead. But Tolton was solid from the stripe when the Lady Tigers were forced to foul, hitting 13 of 18 chances to with the game by 13.

“I thought our tenacity in the second half was who we were, but we didn’t play that way in the first half, and that was the difference,” said Higbee coach Tanner Burton. “You have to be proud of that level of effort to get back into a game against a team like Tolton. I think it showed us areas for growth, and this loss will help us down the road.”

Junior Ronnie Welch led four Higbee scorers in double-figures with 17 points, followed by senior Isabelle Welch with 15 points and 10 rebounds for the double-double. Alie Mitchell finished with 11 points and eight boards. Lauren Spilman added 10 points and six rebounds.

Higbee opened a three-game home stand Tuesday after the Advertiser went to press against Tina-Avalon.