Black River League Tournament: Championship Night
The first game of the night was the girl's third place game where the (3) East Carter Lady Redbirds took on the (5) Viburnum Lady Bluejays. The Lady Bluejays wrestled away a 51-47 victory to capture the third place trophy.
The boy's third place game featured the (1) South Iron Panthers vs. the (3) East Carter Redbirds. The South Iron Panthers were led in scoring by Fr. Drenin Dinkins with 21 pts and Fr. DJ Prater with 10 pts and 16 rebounds. South Iron rebounded with the third place trophy after an upset in the semi-finals. Both third place games came down to the final minutes of the contests.
In the girl's championship game, the (1) South Iron Lady Panthers faced the (2) Ellington Lady Whippets. Even though the Lady Panthers received the top seed, the Lady Whippets came out smoking: draining 3 consecutive three-point field goals made by Fr. Tyler Conkright. Conkright went on to finish the game with a total of 18 points. Teammate Fr. Gretchen Hackworth led the team in scoring with 26 of Ellington's 56 total points. The Lady Whippets lead at every quarter, and went on to win 56-48. The Lady Panthers were led in scoring by Jr. Michaela Ayers with 18 pts and Sr. Dara Miller with 10 pts.
In the finale, the boys squared off for a BRL Title. This game was back and forth between the (2) Lesterville Bearcats and (4) Ellington Whippets. After the first quarter, the Whippets led 13-11. This was the last time Ellington would lead at the end of a quarter. The Bearcats slowly began to pull away as they led at the half: 24-20. Although Ellington put up a fight, Lesterville went on to win their first Black River League Tournament Championship since 1982. Lesterville was led in scoring by Big3 Featured Senior Athlete, Riley Mathes. Mathes scored 18 pts. He was followed by Jr. Vince Mathes with 13 pts., Jr. James Gibson with 12 pts., and Holden Laughman with 10pts. Congratulations to the Lesterville Bearcats for their first BRL Title in 37 years!
Team photos are featured below.