Lady Elks Win Fight To Finish

Saturday, January 12, 2013

— To be one of the top teams, you have to beat some of the top teams.

And Elkins did just that Friday with a stunning, come-from-behind, 51-49, win at West Fork in 3A-1 girls basketball action at the Tiger Dome.

The Lady Elks (10-6, 3-0 3A-1) looked to be facing another loss 2 1/2 quarters into Friday’s matchup of sibling coaches, Nathan Wells of West Fork and Monica Wells of Elkins. But after allowing 21 first-half points to West Fork senior Sydney Franklin, and despite facing a 35-24 deficit with 4 minutes, 35 seconds left in the third quarter, Elkins never quit.

“This is a great win for us because we beat a great team,” Monica Wells said. “We want to have those high expectations and meet those expectations like West Fork has done in the past.”

Tough defense against Franklin, strong inside play from Skylar Johnson and key outside shooting from Alicia Welch resulted in a 21-3 Elkins run late in the four quarter. West Fork found itself down by 45-38 with 3:26 to play, but managed to pull within one possession three times in the closing minutes.

But after a Andrea Wilson layup put Elkins ahead 51-48 with seven seconds left, the Lady Tigers (11-8, 6-1) came up just short when Franklin was fouled on the next possession but missed two potential-tying free-throw attempts.

“We gave good effort and I thought Elkins played great in the second half,” Nathan Wells said. “I’m not displeased. Sometimes the other team does a good job, and Elkins is a great team.”

ELKINS 51, WEST FORK 49

Elkins 12 8 13 18 — 51

West Fork 14 13 9 13 — 49

Elkins (10-6, 3-0): Johnson 21, Wilson 13, Welch 8, Hendrix 7, Stahman 2.

West Fork (11-8, 1-1): Franklin 26, Griffin 9, Selph 6, Hays 4, Quinton 3, Karnes 1.

Boys

West Fork 48, Elkins 35

Even when the offense wasn’t clicking on all cylinders, West Fork had the muscle to move past Elkins on Friday in 3A-1 Conference action at the Tiger Dome.

Tristen DeSoto had six points and 16 rebounds and Robert Wingate added eight rebounds inside as West Fork used size and defense to pull away from the Elks.

“I thought our post play in the first half was really good,” West Fork coach David Ferrell said. “We were really sluggish in the second half and that’s uncharacteristic of us. But we did have that good second quarter.”

Elkins (3-12, 1-2) stayed close through one quarter, but then went scoreless in the second quarter as the Tigers built a 24-8 at halftime and were never threatened the rest of the way.

“I felt like we had some really good looks tonight,” Elkins coach Nate Smith said. “But for whatever reason, shots we usually make weren’t falling in that second quarter.”

WEST FORK 48, ELKINS 35

Elkins 8 0 11 16 — 35

West Fork 11 13 7 17 — 48

Elkins (3-12, 1-2): White 11, Fallen 10, Clark 6, Slammons 4, Gash 4.

West Fork (15-2, 2-0): Ferrell 17, Beasley 13, England 6, DeSoto 6, Wingate 4, Hoornaert 2.