South Iron Boys and Girls Crowned Champions of the Black River League Tournament on J98

(Ellsinore) At the final day of the Black River League Tournament, it was the South Iron boys and girls teams who came away as champions while the East Carter girls and Bunker boys took third on J98.

#1 South Iron 55 – #2 Ellington 50

The first championship game saw the #1 South Iron girls topple #2 Ellington by a final score of 55-50.

It was a close game throughout with the Lady Whippets leading for most of the first half by a slim margin.

Both teams continued to slug it out in the second half, but South Iron was able to give themselves enough breathing room in the fourth thanks to sophomore Madison Ayers.

Ayers led the Lady Panthers in scoring as she finished with 18. South Iron head coach Lawrence Graves says Ayers and her teammates were phenomenal on the defensive side of the ball.

The Lady Panthers improve to (12-3) and will be back on the road on Tuesday when they take on Fredericktown.

Ellington falls to (10-4) and will begin play in the Big Springs Conference Tournament next week.

Full Game Audio: Girls – South Iron vs. Ellington

Full Postgame with South Iron’s Lawrence Graves:

#1 South Iron 104 – #2 East Carter 42

The boys’ championship could have doubled as a boat race as #1 South Iron blew past #2 East Carter by a final score of 104-42.

The Panthers were virtually unstoppable from the jump as they jumped out to a huge lead early and kept the foot on the gas pedal throughout the game.

An exceptional first half culminated with an exclamation point as South Iron went into the locker room flying high.

Brock Wakefield led all scorers for South Iron on the night as he finished with 24.

Panthers’ head coach Dusty Dinkins says his team executed at a high level in the game.

South Iron is now (14-3) on the year and will travel to Fredericktown on Tuesday to take on the Blackcats before a match up with Class 6 powerhouse CBC on Saturday.

East Carter drops to (12-4) and will be back at home on Tuesday when they host Neelyville.

Full Game Audio: Boys – South Iron vs. East Carter

Full Postgame Interview with South Iron’s Dusty Dinkins:

#3 East Carter 52 – #5 Bunker 26

In the girls’ third-place game, #3 East Carter knocked off #5 Bunker 52-26.

The Redbirds set the tone in the first quarter running out to a 13-4 lead and stifling the Bunker offense. The Redbirds got off to a hot start thanks to Brooklyn Kearbey.

Kearbey was our Applebee’s of Farmington Player of the Game with 16 points. Jordan Moore also posted 14 points for the Redbirds and head coach Angela Rodgers praised their effort in the win.

Kaitlyn Belk paced the Eagles with 8 points.

East Carter improves to 8-9 and capture third in the Black River League Tournament. Bunker falls to 5-10 and play in the Big Spring Conference Tournament on Monday.

Full Game Audio: Girls – East Carter vs. Bunker