Junior Zach Calhoun scored 17 of the 'Cats' 26 second-quarter points. (Chris Allen/Democrat-News) [Click to enlarge]

CENTERVIEW -- After a tight first quarter, the Santa Fe boys' basketball team went on a roll during the next two frames to dispense with I-70 Conference foe Crest Ridge, 64-52, Thursday at Centerview.

Junior Luke Brandt scored nine points during the Chiefs' 17-8 second-period run and juniors Bryan Sander and Brett Case each had six points during the 22-9 third quarter -- opening up a 20-point gap.

Sophomore Nathan Francy's 13 points led the Cougars (4-17, 1-4 I-70).

Brandt finished with 16 points, Sander had 10 and senior Kenzie Thorp and Case chipped in with eight points apiece for Santa Fe (13-8, 4-2) -- which closes out the league schedule at home today against Concordia.

Slater 71, Northwest 64

SLATER -- There seems to be no stopping Aric Falls of late.

The Slater senior scored 10 of his game-high 28 points during the fourth quarter Thursday, the Wildcats out-gunning Northwest of Hughesville 22-15 during the final frame to claim a 71-64 non-conference home win.

The teams were tied at 49 after three periods, but Falls and senior Kyle Durham got hot -- the latter sinking a coffin-nailing three-pointer in the late stages.

Junior Trevor Durrill's 18 points led the Mustangs (6-15).

Sophomore Zach Calhoun hit four bombs and scored 17 of his career-high 18 points during the second quarter for Slater (9-15) -- which takes a three-game winning streak into Tuesday's Lewis and Clark Conference home game against Marceline.

Girls

Crest Ridge 51, Santa Fe 17

CENTERVIEW -- Crest Ridge's defense overwhelmed another opponent Thursday, the fourth-ranked Lady Cougars remaining unbeaten by routing Santa Fe, 51-17, for an I-70 Conference home win.

Junior Renae Shippy and sophomore Lauren Brockhaus each made three shots during the first period for Crest Ridge, which jumped out to a 19-4 lead and never looked back. The Lady Coogs (22-0, 5-0 I-70) forced 32 turnovers and held the visitors to five field goals in 26 attempts.

Shippy led all scorers with 18 points, while the best any of the Lady Chiefs (8-13, 3-3) could manage was eight points from sophomore Lauren Aversman.

Slater 44, Northwest 43

SLATER -- Junior Rachel Gonzalez' free throw with seven seconds remaining was the difference as Slater hung on to down visiting Northwest of Hughesville, 44-43, in Thursday's non-conference tilt.

The Lady Wildcats took a six-point lead into the final four minutes, but missed six straight from the charity stripe while sophomore Mariah Wiskur's three-pointer helped the Lady Mustangs catch up. Gonzalez made the first of her two tries and missed the second, but sophomore Merideth Norfleet's potential game-winning shot came up short.

Wiskur led Northwest (10-11) with 19 points. Sophomore Niki Kruger had 13 points for Slater (9-14), which survived 23 turnovers.