Tigers take third
The hosting Perry County Vikings didn’t go down easy, but the top-seeded West Carroll War Eagles simply wouldn’t be denied as they claimed the District 11A Tournament title Saturday night with a 69-63 win over the Vikings.
But West Carroll started a bit cold as Perry County hit the court hot in the first quarter. The Vikings were ahead by 11 points, 15-4, midway through the first and ended the quarter with a 19-10 advantage.
An opening trey by Xander Moon early in the second period marked the start of a West Carroll rally. The War Eagles caught and then passed the Vikings by the two-minute mark. The scoreboard then changed hands several times, and Perry County arrived at the half in the lead, but only by one, 32-31.
The War Eagles jumped out front early in the third quarter on an outside shot by Jalen Anglin, who spearheaded West Carroll’s effort in the third with 11 points. And while the Vikings stayed right with them, the War Eagles were up 46-44 by the end of the third.
The two teams continued to run neck-and-neck through most of the fourth quarter, but in the last minute or so, the War Eagles started gaining some distance, mostly on free throws, as they pressed to the basket and Perry County racked up the fouls trying to stop them. Anglin added the last two points of the game from the foul line with 14 seconds left on the clock.
Anglin, who was named both the All-District and All-Tournament MVP, was West Carroll’s and the game’s top scorer with 34 points. Also contributing offensively were Josh Clark 11, Jaquan Adkins 8, Xander Moon 7, Andrew Huff 5, and J.D. Pique. Lenhlen Mathews led Perry County with 29 points.
West Carroll, now 19-3 overall and 8-0 in district play, will be hosting the Region 6A Tournament and will start it out with a matchup against fourth-seeded Big Sandy on Saturday, Feb. 26 at 7 p.m.
The War Eagles advanced to the championship round after defeating the Hollow Rock-Bruceton Central Tigers 94-46 in the semifinals on Feb. 15.
The Tigers went on to bested the Frank Hughes Lions 67-51 in the consolation game on Saturday to claim third place in the tournament.
The Lions put the first five points on the scoreboard in the first quarter, but the Tiger rallied to hold an 11-10 lead by the end of the first.
Frank Hughes retook the lead early in the second, but, again, the Tigers stepped it up late in the quarter to claim a 25-24 advantage at the half. Central came out hot in the third and outscored the Lions 22-9 in that period to hold the scoreboard 47-33 going into the final stanza. Central kept the Lions at bay, and even added two points to their lead, in the fourth to win it by 16.
Preston Hollingsworth and Tate Crews both put up 22 points for the Tigers, followed by Cameron Lowe 10, Malakhi Guthrie 6, Owen Crocker 5, and Gavin Johnson 2. Macaden Hunt was out front for Frank Hughes with 14.
