Caldwell Kyler Bruey with the shot in battle against Udall. Sam Wencel shooting in picture above.

by Tracy McCue, Sumner Newscow — In a battle for supremacy in the South-Central Border League and seeding for the SCBL tournament next week, the Caldwell boys picked up a huge win over Udall Tuesday night 60-52 at Bluejay Stadium.

Avenging an earlier 58-50 loss to Udall in December, the Bluejays would win by eight here.

With the victory, the Bluejays are 7-2 and dropped Udall to 6-2. As a result, Caldwell will probably be the No. 1 seed going into the SCBL tournament. Seeding for the tournament is expected to be out today.

Getting 21 points from Colten Ward and 16 from Sam Wencel, Caldwell staved off a Udall rally late into the fourth quarter. 

Udall was down 51-49 with just 1:14 to play, thanks in part by points scored off a tenacious full-court press. But Wencel would go to the line to secure victory for the Bluejays hitting 5 of 6 free throws down the stretch to safely put this game away. Udall was self destructive in the final minute missing all of its field goal attempts including an air ball and committing an intentional foul.

The victory keeps Caldwell rolling. Since the turn of the calendar year, the Bluejays have been undefeated and are ranked fourth in the Kansas Basketball Coaches Association poll.

Caldwell immediately dictated the game early with a high voltage offense intermitted with slow half-court spread that kept Udall on its heals. But the Eagles would never go away. The Jays led 14-6 early until Udall rattled off seven consecutive points to trail by one 14-13. The second quarter was back and forth and the Caldwell maintained a 31-28 lead at the half. After a slow start to start the second half, Caldwell would break up a 35-all tie with a 10-2 run at quarter’s end.

Then Udall came storming back again and narrowed the margin to four. Caldwell would up the lead back to six, before two Udall baskets off Caldwell turnovers turned this game into a nail biter in the final minutes.

Udall was led by Nolan Williams with 16 and Brayden Wilkey with 11.

Caldwell girls win

Caldwell girls beat Udall 46-39 Tuesday. Caldwell’s Tori Bardsley scored 17 points in the winning cause.

Payton Dvorak snags the rebound for the Bluejays Tuesday.

The Eagles came into the game winless, but gave the Lady Bluejays a scare. Caldwell led 27-17 at the end of the first half, but then were held to just two points in the third quarter. Udall was knocking on the door, 27-26 at quarter’s end.

But the Bluejay press would eventually devour the Eagles including one trip down the floor when Caldwell would score five consecutive points. Caldwell would outscore Udall 19-7 in the final stanza to pick up the win.

The Bluejay girls are 4-5 and travel to Cedar Vale-Dexter on Friday.

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