Prep Hoops Round-up: Lady 'Cats end Westran's conference win streak

HUNTSVILLE -- It had been over three years and 32 games since the Westran girls' basketball team had lost a Lewis and Clark Conference game.

That string ended Friday on the Lady Hornets' home court when Slater pulled out a 35-34 decision. That stopped an even longer stretch of futility against Westran by the Lady Wildcats, who hadn't beaten the three-time defending league champions since another one-point verdict, 37-36, on Feb. 13, 2004, snapping a 12-game streak.

Up until Slater's 56-41 loss earlier this month in the first round of the Glasgow Tournament, the Purple had fallen to the Lady Hornets by at least 23 points -- and as many as 43 points -- in eight straight meetings.

Winning against such a high-powered program as Westran's -- which had been to the MSHSAA Championships the last three years, losing back-to-back Class 2 finals -- wouldn't be easy, of course.

However, despite all-conference junior Rachael Richards' evenly-distributed 20 points, the Lady Hornets (1-4, 0-1 L&C) couldn't put any distance between themselves and Slater -- no quarter ending with more than a one-point difference on the scoreboard.

Down the stretch, though, the Lady 'Cats got a couple of big-time plays from junior forward Brittany Cornine -- a put-back bucket with six seconds remaining to give them the lead and a defensive rebound with a second showing to seal the victory.

Senior Rachel Gonzalez led Slater with 14 points, Cornine had 10 points and sophomore Ana Jackson grabbed 10 boards. The Lady 'Cats (3-1, 1-0) will play at Carrollton today, seeking their fourth win in a row.

Otterville 37, Malta Bend 15

HUGHESVILLE -- With its top two scorers -- seniors Jerrian Johnson and Emily Warner -- taking ACT tests Saturday morning, Malta Bend was hard-pressed to play for seventh place in the Northwest Tournament at Hughesville.

Otterville had three players missing for the same reason, but fortunately had a pair of youngsters lead it to a 37-15 victory. In particular, freshman Amy Oleynik was a force with 15 points, 20 rebounds and six blocked shots for the Lady Eagles -- who led 12-4 after one quarter and added to their advantage the rest of the way.

Freshman Tori Schoen had a triple-double for Otterville (1-4): 10 points, 14 rebounds and 10 steals.

The Lady Tigers (0-6), who host CCAA rival Jamestown on Thursday, were led by four points from senior Ashleigh Thomas.

Boys

Westran 51, Slater 18

HUNTSVILLE -- The Slater boys made things tough on a good Westran club for a while, but couldn't generate enough of an offensive spark themselves to stay with the Lewis and Clark Conference title contender during Friday's 51-8 road loss.

The Wildcats scored 10 points during the first quarter, trailing by only four points, then a mere eight points the rest of the way -- all during the middle two periods, when the Hornets while piling up 34 points to invoke the "turbo" clock for the fourth frame.

Senior Roscoe Robinson paced Westran (4-1, 1-0 L&C) with 17 points and junior Bryce Enyard was right behind him with 16.

Slater (0-3, 0-1) got six points from junior Jermie Pittman, with senior Zach Calhoun and junior Cody Skinner each adding five points.

Malta Bend 62, LaMonte 48

HUGHESVILLE -- Junior Tyler Armstrong finally shook the offensive doldrums which had plagued him early this season with 28 points Saturday as Malta Bend beat LaMonte, 62-48, for seventh place in the Northwest Tournament at Hughesville.

The Vikings led early behind the nine points of junior Jacob Minor, but by halftime the momentum had swung the other way and they trailed, 29-26. The Tigers went on a 21-5 splurge during the third period, the Armstrong brothers -- Tyler and senior Ryan -- racking up 15 points between them to take a 19-point lead into the fourth quarter.

Minor finished with 21 points for LaMonte (0-4).

Ryan Armstrong had 17 points and junior Tim Trelow chipped in with 15 for Malta Bend (1-5).