MORAN – A high energy performance by Marmaton Valley High’s Wildcat boys Friday night helped them secure second place in the Marmaton Valley Preseason Basketball Tournament. The Wildcats beat West Elk High’s Patriots 46-24.
“I was proud of the way the boys played. They came out and just started playing right from the get-go,” said Wildcat head coach Denny Lasley, pointing to the 22 rebounds and 18 steals his team tallied against the Patriots.
The Wildcats forced 24 first-half points, dwarfing the seven managed by West Elk. And by the time the Patriots offense started clicking – West Elk matched Marmaton Valley’s 13 third-period points- it was too late.
Lasley said the team made excellent progress toward curbing the turnovers that have plagued the Wildcats in their two losses.
“The guys passed the ball and ran the offense well,” he said citing the team’s 17 assists compared to its 10 turnovers.
Offensive standouts for the Wildcats were Zack Louk with 20 points and four assists and Cole Becker with 11 points and five assists. Levi Smith led the Patriots scoring attack with eight points.
Wildcat Nathan Smart had a game-high eight rebounds.
In other tournament play, Northeast High’s Vikings beat the Oswego High Indians 41-34, earning them a first place tournament finish. Oswego placed third in the contest and West Elk fourth.
THE MARMATON VALLEY girls’ night wasn’t as peachy. The Wildcats fell to West Elk’s girl 37-25.
A struggling second-half offense proved too much for Marmaton Valley to overcome. The Patriots forced 21 points in the closing periods, three times the offensive production mustered by the Wildcats.
West Elk’s Miranda Silvey had a game high 16 points. For the Wildcats, Kacie Shadden and Kailey Boyd led the way with 10 and eight points respectively.
The tournament host finished fourth in the three-game contest. West Elk earned second place behind Oswego, which secured its first place finish with a 50-21 win over Northeast Friday. Northeast finished third.
Marmaton Valley boys (13-11-13-9-46) (FG/3-pt): Louk 9-2-0-20, Smith 0-0-2-0, Carr 1/1-1-1-6, Becker 4-3-3-11, Hamlin 2-0-1-4, Stewart 1-0-0-2, Smart 1-1-3-3. TOTALS: 18/1-7-10-46.
West Elk boys (2-5-13-4-24): Banister 1-0-0-2, McGee 2-0-3-4, Wilson 0/2-0-2-6, Coble 0-0-2-0, Smith 2-0-2-4, Smith 3-2-1-8. TOTALS: 8/2-2-10-24.
Marmaton Valley girls (13-5-4-3-25) (FG/3-pt): Ensminger 1-0-3-2, Boyd 4-0-2-8, Shadden 4-2-2-10, Meiwes 0-1-1-1, Ford 0-0-4-0, Louk 0-0-1-0, Olson 0-2-0-2, Lance 1-0-1-2. TOTALS: 10-5-14-25.
West Elk girls (10-6-10-11-37): Mir. Silvey 8-0-0-16, Min. Silvey 0-1-0-1, Zaragoza 3-0-3-6, Loudermilk 3-0-4-6, Lampson 3-0-3-6, Huntington 0-1-1-1, Bellar 0-0-1-0, Julian 0-1-1-1. TOTALS: 17-3-13-37.
