WEST FORK -- Elkins shut down West Fork's perimeter scoring in the second half and held the Lady Tigers to one field goal over the final five minutes to grab a 53-45 3A-1 West Conference win Tuesday night at the Tiger Dome.
The Lady Elks grabbed the lead with a 15-5 third-quarter run, keyed by 10 points from senior Bella Pitts, and rode strong fourth-quarter defense to the victory.
Prep Basketball
Boys
West Fork 68, Elkins 62 (OT)
Elkins^11^11^7^20^13^—^62
West Fork^14^11^11^13^19^—^68
Elkins (6-15, 2-8): Shackelford 20, Casebolt 12, Lewis 8, Hipps 7, Vaught 7, Evans 4, Skaggs 4.
West Fork (17-6, 7-2): C. Roebke 23, R. Roebke 19, Yates 9, Burnett 8, Hays 6, Treat 3.
Girls
Elkins 53, West Fork 45
Elkins^12^9^18^14^—^53
West Fork^17^9^8^11^—^45
Elkins (11-8, 7-3): Pitts 14, Kestner 11, Miller 10, Burnett 9, Brink 9,
West Fork (12-13, 3-6): Throgmorton 17, Greenlee 13, Kutz 9, Griffin 6.
Elkins coach Monica Wells said West Fork (12-13, 3-6 3A-1 West) didn't do anything to surprise the Lady Elks. But her team was better defensively in the second half, turning a five-point halftime deficit into a five-point lead heading into the fourth quarter.
"We had a big third quarter," Wells said. "We like to try to go out and win the third quarter and we certainly did that. Bella Pitts hit three 3-pointers for us in that third quarter and we locked them down on defense better in the second half. I'm really proud of the kids. We had a sophomore, K.D. Miller, if she didn't score in the first half, I'm not sure we would have scored.
"We gave up six three's in the first half and there were no surprises. It was all kids we knew could shoot."
Shannon Throgmorton's three-point play with 5 minues, 58 seconds left in the fourth quarter pulled West Fork within 42-39. But the Lady Tigers managed just one more field goal for the rest of the game. West Fork also made just 5 of 9 free throws in the fourth quarter.
Pitts, who led Elkins (11-8, 7-3) with 14 points, gave the Lady Elks some perimeter scoring with three 3-pointers, after they gave up 6 three's in the first half. Kenadie Kestner chipped in 11, while K.D. Miller added 10, all in the first half. Paigely Burnett and Aubrey Brink also had nine points each.
West Fork coach Rodney Selph wasn't displeased with how his team played.
"We didn't rebound very good there, we went to a triangle-and-two and they got some offensive putbacks that hurt us," Selph said. "We hit some shots, but they took that away. But we got the ball inside some. The kids played hard."
Throgmorton led all scorers with 17 points, including four 3-pointers, for West Fork, but 14 of those points came in the first half. Sara Greenlee was also in double figures with 13.
Boys
West Fork 68, Elkins 62 (OT)
Ryan Roebke made 7 of 8 free throws over the final 46.9 seconds of overtime to help the Tigers escape with the win.
Karsten Shackelford of Elkins made his sixth 3-pointer of the game to in the waning seconds of regulation to send the game into overtime. The Elks (6-15, 2-8) wiped out a seven-point deficit in the final 2:25 to send the game into overtime.
Cody Roebke, a 6-3 senior, led all scorers with 23 points, while Ryan Roebke added 19, including 14 in the fourth quarter and overtime, for West Fork. The Tigers improved to 17-6 overall and 7-2 in the league.
Shackelford led Elkins with 20, while Hunter Casebolt chipped in 12.
Sports on 02/03/2016