Basketball action on Monday had the Alliance St. Agnes boy’s club facing off with Scottsbluff for the championship in the 8th grade B division of the Bearcat tournament. SA stayed close with the hosts but a big second quarter by the Cats was too much too overcome. The Bluffs took first by defeating the Academy 60 to 29. SB outscored the Crusaders 19 to 6 in the second in getting the win. With the loss, St. Agnes ends the season with a 7 and 8 record. Alliance got a 17 point effort from Mason Conyers to led the offense but in the end it was all Cats. St. Agnes began the tournament in Scottsbluff with wins over Alliance Middle and Sidney to get to the finals.
Quarter one had an early score by Conyers to give the Academy a 2 point lead. SB responded by putting the next 10 tallies on the board to go up by 8. The Cats hit a pair of threes to surge ahead. A bucket by Alliance’s Tatum Devlin ensued as the Crusaders stayed close. It was followed by a Conyers’ free throw that made the score 10 to 5. The period ended with a Bluffs two and a hoop by Crusader Chief Cody. After one, the Academy was down 12 to 7.
Six points by Conyers would lead the Alliance offense in the second. Unfortunately, it was all the Crusaders could muster in the period. Meanwhile, the Bluffs took control by scoring 19 in the stanza. Nine straight tallies by the hosts is how the quarter began as the Bearcats extended its margin to 21 to 7. The squads then traded blows with SA getting back to back baskets by Conyers. Another pair of treys by Scottsbluff midway thru the quarter put the Academy deficit at 16. Conyers finished the period with a deuce and the teams went to half with SB out in front 31 to 13.
Alliance had their best effort offensively in the third, tallying 14 points. SB’s offense also clicked in the period as the Cats put 16 into the scoring column. Play was tight early with the Academy getting tallies by Conyers and Emerson Trumble. An old fashion three point play by Conyers plus a 2 by Trumble kept the Crusaders in the game. After another Conyers score, the Bluffs came back with 6 consecutive to go up 44 to 20 at the 3 minute mark. Both teams found success in the final stages with the Crusaders getting points by Conyers, Liam Pena, and Declan Kirchner. Heading to the fourth, the Bearcats were up by 20 47 to 27.
Period #4 was a rough one for the Academy. St. Agnes would garner just 2 points while the Bluffs scored 13 more. A Cody two early in the quarter was the lone Crusader bucket. The Bluffs finished off the contest with 11 in a row.
Final Scottsbluff 60 Alliance 29
SA 7 6 14 2 29
SB 12 19 16 13 60
Scoring for the Academy Cody 4 Conyers 17 Devlin 2 Pena 2 Trumble 2 Kirchner 2