The Class Two, District 7 Basketball Tournament at Glasgow proved to be history-making in many regards for Westran, as both their girls and boys teams came away as champions in their respective brackets.
First, the Hornet girls won their district title Friday, Feb. 27 when they defeated Glasgow, 48-39. It was the girls’ first district crown in nine years. Then Saturday afternoon the Westran boys came from behind to chalk up their first post-season crown of any sort over the past decade when they earned a 59-55 overtime victory against Salisbury.
As was the case in Thursday night’s semifinals with Glasgow, the Hornet boys didn’t mind playing an extra four minutes to post a win. In addition, outstanding free throw shooting once again went a long way toward serving as the difference in the contest. On their way to beating Glasgow on Thursday, Westran made 19 of 25 free throws to secure the victory. As part of their Saturday comeback against Salisbury, the Hornets were 17 of 18 at the stripe while the Panthers ended up 11 for 19 from there.
It was a day where the momentum seemed to shift every few minutes. The Hornets jumped out on top 14-7 early in the second quarter only to see Salisbury go on a 15-0 run to grab a 22-14 lead. The Panthers then led 25-18 at the half and later 38-29 heading into the final period. Down the stretch however, Westran fought their way back into things, thanks to juniors Cruze Haynes and Jordan Black. A 19-10 run in the fourth quarter enabled the Hornets to tie the game, 48-48 at the end of regulation. Then in overtime, Westran held an 11-7 edge, using their timely free throw shooting to close out the win.
The Lewis and Clark Conference champion Salisbury squad ended their year at 21-6. Austin Cravens scored 20 points to pace them while Patrick White tacked on 14 and Jake Peiffer added 13. Avenging a 65-49 loss to the Panthers in late January, Westran improved to 22-7 for the season. Cruze Haynes led his team with 21 points as 19 of them came in the second half. Jordan Black provided a 19-point performance of his own, scoring 14 after intermission.
With their wins this weekend, the Westran squads now advance to Sectional play at Harrisburg as the girls meet Tipton on Monday night while the boys battle New Franklin on Tuesday.
KMMO will have a pair of Class One sectional contests this week. Monday night, our Greg Schmidt is traveling to Mexico to bring you the girls sectional between New Franklin and Northeast (Cairo). Tuesday night, it’s back to Glasgow for the boys sectional between Brunswick and Green City. Both games will have pregame at 5:50 p.m., with tip-off at 6 p.m., on KMMO-FM 102.9 and online at KMMO.com.