Crest High’s boys and girls teams followed nearly identical paths through the War on 54 Tournament.
Both fell in the opening round to Iola before responding with a wallop for the rest of the tournament.
On Friday, the Lady Lancers took control in the second half to pull away in a 42-30 win over Anderson County.
The boys did much the same, using strong second and third quarters to thump Cherryvale, 58-36.
Both the girls and boys wound in fifth place in their respective tournament placings.
“This was a good win, especially with how we came out,” Crest girls head coach Steve Zimmerman said. “Our energy was good.”
Still, it was tough to score for both teams as Crest and Anderson County were knotted at 5-5 at the end of the first quarter. The Bulldogs found their offense in the second quarter and entered the locker room with a 17-12 lead.
But Crest (5-5) took control with a 13-2 third-quarter run, behind the balanced scoring of Aylee Beckmon, Karlee Boots, Cursten Allen and Kinley Edgerton.
“Cursten knocked down a big 3, and that opened things up for her,” Zimmerman said. “We don’t have the numbers for a tournament like this, and it’s hard. We don’t have a large enough roster to do a full scrimmage like we want to, so for many times, a scrimmage for us is the start of the game.
“We tried some different things at halftime, and it worked.”
Boots and Allen led the way with nine points each. Beckmon and Edgerton both scored eight.
Brooklyn Kellerman scored 12 to lead Anderson County.
THE BOYS game played out in a similar fashion as Crest held a 15-13 lead after one quarter.
“We knew we’d have to match their physicality, and we didn’t do a great job of that early,” Lancer head coach Dakotah Sporing said. “The last three quarters, we did.”
Crest (8-3) used a 17-6 second-quarter run to pull ahead 32-19. Another strong third period saw the Lancers in full control, 48-29.
