BRL Finals To Feature Ellington, Lesterville Boys; South Iron, Ellington Girls
January 18, 2019 12:10AM CST
(LESTERVILLE, Mo.) – The Ellington Whippets and the Lesterville Bearcats will face off in the boys championship of the Black River League tournament Friday on J-98. Both teams were victorious in the semifinal round Thursday night.
Fourth-seeded Ellington earned an upset win over the top-seeded South Iron Panthers 44-37 in the first semifinal. The Panthers held the lead for most of the game, but the Whippets stormed back in the fourth quarter, led by sophomore guard Kyle Conkright.
Conkright finished with 22 points. Whippets head coach Jeremy Peterson said he thought his team put together a complete performance.
Ellington’s record is now 9-6, while South Iron fell to 12-3.
In the second semifinal game of the night, Lesterville topped the East Carter Redbirds 68-41. Lesterville was led in scoring by Brendan Myers who ended with a game hight 24 points, including 18 in the first half.
The Bearcats would take a 30-23 lead into the halftime break. Throughout the game the Bearcats outscored East Carter in each quarter as Vince Mathes and James Gibson provided Lesterville with some second half scoring.
Bearcats head coach Anthony Caruso had some praise for Myers’ work ethic.
The Bearcats jump to 12-4 while the Redbirds drop to 9-6. Before Ellington and Lesterville face off in the boys championship, the girls title game between South Iron and Ellington will take place at 6:30 p.m. Friday night. Panthers head coach Lawrence Graves said Ellington will be a tough test.
On the other side, Whippets head coach Paula King said that while she’s been happy with her team’s performance thus far, she knows they have a tall task ahead.
The Flieg’s Equipment Pregame Show gets underway at 6:15 p.m. Friday night on J-98.
