West Elk girls race to SCBL Tournament victory over South Haven
South Haven’s Cynae Wiley goes for a steal in SCBL championship battle Saturday evening
by James Jordan, Sumner Newscow — West Elk got an early lead, and while South Haven made some runs, it could never get over the hump in the finals of the girls SCBL tournament Saturday. West Elk won the game 49-39.
In other SCBL tourney action, The Patriots would rule the night, as the boys would go on to beat Sedan 61-32 to win the tournament championship. Caldwell boys defeat Oxford 48-40.
In a rematch from a week ago in which the Lady Cardinals almost beat West El, South Haven could not hit a shot early on and fell behind to a hot shooting West Elk team. The Patriots led 13-4 at the end of one quarter, and 23-7 halfway through the second.
South Haven put a run together to close out the half as Brittney Byers started hitting shots. She made three consecutive shots, including one three-pointer, and South Haven reeled off 11 unanswered points. That cut the deficit to six, and Byers made one more shot before the half ended and the deficit shrank to four. West Elk’s Macy McClendon hit a three-pointer just before the half ended, making the score 27-20 at intermission.
West Elk started the second half on another tear — reeling off 12 unanswered points to take a 39-20 lead. South Haven got five points, including a three-pointer from Byers late and West Elk led 43-25 leading into the final quarter.
South Haven got one more run going. Rachel Turek and Cynae Wiley hit three-pointers and the deficit was cut to nine with about two minutes left. South Haven created some turnovers from that point, but could not capitalize.
Byers scored 18 with four three-pointers. Wiley and Turek had seven each. Bryonna Byers had three. Madison Smith and Sydney Bacon each had two for South Haven.
Maci McClendon finished with 15 for West Elk. Megan McClendon an Mandy Olsman each had 10. Haley Helms added eight for West Elk.
Boys third place game
Caldwell 48, Oxford 40
Caldwell broke open a close game with a run at the start of the second half in the third place game of the SCBL tournament Saturday. The score was tied at 24 at the half, and Caldwell started the third quarter on a 11-0 run, fueled by a three-pointer and two more made shots by Jalen Risley.
Oxford stormed back with Cal Shimkus and Henry Carter each making two baskets before the quarter ended. Dakota Mitchel hit a three-pointer as the fourth quarter started to tie the game at 35.
Caldwell put another run together, again powered by Risley, hit a three and two more baskets on three consecutive possessions. Dru Volovka added a shot to finish off a 9-0 run that gave Caldwell a lead it would not relinquish.
