HS boys’ basketball: Staunton closing in on outright conference crown
Last week, Ethan Sharp and the Staunton High School boys’ basketball team defeated Southwestern, 48-30, at home. With the victory, the Bulldogs kept their undefeated South Central Conference season going and moved closer to an outright championship. Photo contributed.
Carlinville defeats Gillespie and Maryville Christian, falls to Southwestern
By JACKSON WILSON
Enquirer Democrat Reporter
The Staunton High School boys’ basketball team is close enough to taste an outright South Central Conference championship.
While the goal hasn’t mathematically been completed at this time, the Bulldogs couldn’t be in a better position where they are now after getting back-to-back wins over two teams that were in the upper echelon.
On Feb. 11, Staunton dominated Southwestern, 48-30, in a county championship rematch at home, then went on the road and picked up another key win, 50-36, at Litchfield, Feb. 14, clinching at least a share of the conference crown.
Staunton is 24-4 overall with a commanding two-game lead over Hillsboro and Greenville, which are fittingly the last two opponents on the Dogs’ regular season schedule. Staunton only needs to win one of these games to clinch the outright championship.
The Bulldogs are 7-0 in the SCC.
Carlinville defeats Gillespie and Maryville Christian, falls to Southwestern
In other action, Carlinville completed a stretch of 12 games in 18 days with a pair of victories over Gillespie and Maryville Christian and a loss to Southwestern.
Against Gillespie, Triston Thompson had 19 points with four assists and Colin Pope scored a career-high 15 points. Tate Duckels also had a big game with 13 points, nine rebounds and seven assists. Dom Alepra additionally hit double figures with 11 points. The Cavaliers picked up their first conference win of the year while the Miners dropped to 1-5. Gillespie is 5-19 on the season.
Carlinville trailed 29-24 after three quarters against Maryville Christian but closed the game on a 13-2 run to seize a memorable 37-31 comeback victory over the Lions.
The Cavaliers put up a fight against Southwestern despite playing shorthanded without starting center Sawyer Smith, but saw a 15-7 first quarter lead quickly vanish prior to halftime when the Birds went on a 21-4 run leading up to the break. Carlinville refused to let the game get away down the stretch but didn’t have enough gas in the tank to pull the upset. Southwestern, behind 19 points from Ryan Lowis and 16 points from Ian Brantley, held on for a 56-49 win. The Birds improved to 16-12 overall and 4-3 in the SCC while the Cavaliers fell to 13-16 on the season and 1-6 in SCC action.
