Crest Ridge punched their ticket for Saturday’s championship game in the boys’ half of the I-70 Conference Tournament thanks to an impressive Thursday night, semifinal-round victory over Lone Jack. The Cougars overwhelmed the Mules at both ends of the floor, shutting them down to the tune of 49-29 in action heard on KMMO-FM.
Crest Ridge had built for themselves a 16-9 lead after one period before limiting the Mules to just 11 points during the middle two quarters of play. Thus, the Cougar advantage grew to 22-13 at the half and later 43-20 entering the final stanza as the home team coasted to their 20-point victory.
Now 4-2 on the year, Crest Ridge received 18 points from Wesley Taylor with Wyatt Ducos scoring 13 while Gavin Wyatt added 11. Meanwhile, Lone Jack fell to 3-3 for the season as Cooper Shull paced them with 10 points.
Following top-seeded St. Paul’s 49-30 win over Wellington in the semifinal-round contest held at Lone Jack last night, Crest Ridge now meets the Saints in the championship game at 5:30 Saturday after Lone Jack takes on Wellington-Napoleon for third place at 2:30.
Losers Bracket Battle
Last evening’s opener at Crest Ridge saw Orrick roll past Sweet Springs, 63-41 in consolation-round action.
The Bearcats held a 13-11 lead after the opening eight minutes before widening that gap to 30-22 at the break. Orrick stretched the margin to 47-32 at the conclusion of three frames before posting their decisive 63-41 decision. Four men were in double figures for the Bearcats who saw their record improve to 2-4. Parker Floyd led the winners with 14 points while Logan Smith scored 13 as Lucas Walker and Trent Windsor tallied 12 and 11 respectively.
The loss dropped Sweet Springs to 1-6 thus far. Joey Rapp tossed in 16 points for the Greyhounds with Drayton Hampton adding 13.
In the first game played at Lone Jack Thursday, Concordia won the losers-bracket matchup there as they defeated Santa Fe, 55-37.
Thus, it’ll be Sweet Springs meeting Santa Fe in the boys’ seventh-place contest tonight prior to Concordia squaring off against Orrick for consolation honors.