Eagles Beat Bobcats to Start Boys NTC Tourney

The 85th Annual National Trail Conference Boys Basketball Tournament got underway Monday night with a convincing 72-38 win by the St. Elmo/Brownstown Eagles over the Cowden-Herrick/Beecher City Bobcats.

The contest, as will be the case with all 14 tournament games this week, was broadcast via live video and audio streaming on 979XFM and www.979xfm.com. 

SEB played great, shooting 55% from the field and turning the ball over just five times. The Eagles led 24-5 after one quarter, 47-14 at halftime, and 67-28 after three quarters, with the fourth quarter played with a continuous clock. They made 31 of 56 shots, pulled down 34 rebounds and made six of 15 threes. The one downer for the Eagles was their foul shooting; just 4 of 11 made.

CHBC shot just 31% from the field, 15 of 48, including 1 of 13 threes. The Bobcats made 7 of 13 foul shots, turned the ball over 14 times, and grabbed 23 rebounds.

For SEB, Bryton Pruett led the way with 17 points on six of seven shooting, and Andy Goldsborough posted a double-double with 15 points, all in the first half, and 10 rebounds. Also for SEB: Jaxson Tish 9, Gavyn Smith 8, Kaden Tish 6, Jace McWhorter, Jacob Baron and Ean Forbus 4 each, Caleb Campbell and David Stine 2 each, and Carl Brauer 1.

For CHBC, Daniel Lucas led the way with 11 points. Also for CHBC: Kade Persinger 9, Silas Buzzard 8, Jadan Robertson and Dakota Gray 3 each, and Dylan Taylor and Seth Doty 2 each.

With the win, St. Elmo/Brownstown improved to 13-7 on the season, while CHBC drops to 3-18. SEB is right back in action Tuesday night at 6:15pm against top-seeded St. Anthony. CHBC's next game will be Thursday at 5pm against the loser of Wednesday's Altamont/Windsor-Stew/Stras game.

Following Tuesday's St. Anthony vs. St. Elmo/Brownstown game, the North Clay Cardinals and the Neoga Indians meet in a battle of the #4 and #5 seeds.

NTC Tournament

Game One

CHBC (38)

Buchanan 0-0 -- 0, Burrus 0-0 -- 0, Taylor 1-0 -- 2, J. Robertson 1-1 -- 3, Robbins 0-0 -- 0, Persinger 3-2 -- 9, Buzzard 4-0 -- 8, Doty 1-0 -- 2, C. Robertson 0-0 -- 0, Lucas 4-3 -- 11, Carley 0-0 -- 0, Gray 1-1 -- 3. TOTALS 15 FG, 7 FT.

SEB (72)

Stine 1-0 -- 2, Pruett 6-3 -- 17, Brauer 0-1 -- 1, Forbus 2-0 -- 4, K. Tish 3-0 -- 6, Smith 4-0 -- 8, McWhorter 2-0 -- 4, Higgs 0-0 -- 0, Goldsborough 7-0 -- 15, J. Tish 3-0 -- 9, Campbell 1-0 -- 2, Baron 2-0 -- 4. TOTALS 31 FG, 4 FT.

CHBC                5      9    14    10    --    38

SEB                 24    23    20      5    --    72

3-point FG -- Cowden-Herrick/Beecher City 1 (Persinger 1), St. Elmo/Brownstown 6 (J. Tish 3, Pruett 2, Goldsborough 1).