Demons earn Pitt 8 third-place finish

Jan. 21—It was a fight to the finish.

Kiowa and Crowder went toe-to-toe in the Pitt 8 Conference Tournament on Saturday, where the Demons held on for a 55-44 win to earn third-place honors.

Sevryn Mills and James Meek put the Demons on the board first, jumping out to an early 4-0 lead. But the Cowboys responded with buckets from Cooper McClendon and Cason Church to quickly tie up the game.

Kiowa kept powering forward offensively, and used shots from Eli Foris, Noah Foris, and Jaxon Wills on the way to a 15-8 lead after the first quarter.

In the second quarter, Meek nabbed another quick bucked for the Demons. Cooper Allison and Johnathan Lizik aded in back to back scores, setting off a scoring run that would see Crowder tie up the game at 22-22 with 2:23 to go in the first half.

Lizik next nabbed a steal-and-score, but Noah Foris responded with a swishing triple to give Kiowa back the lead. The two teams battled to the horn, with Crowder holding on to a 25-24 lead at the break.

Mills was fouled to start the second half, sinking the back half of his free throws. McClendon floated a shot through the hoop in response, but Mills answered with a razzle-dazzle steal and score to put the Demons back out in front.

The Demons kept attacking, with Mills rising for a rattling triple to extend the lead to seven. He would later be sent to the foul line, hitting both. Noah Foris responded for the Cowboys, using a three-pointer and a euro-step layup to cut the deficit to four.

J.W. Ragan would end the run with a driving score, with Mills following with free throws. But Wills answered at the buzzer, making it a 41-35 Crowder lead heading into the final period.

Church drove in for a score for the Cowboys to start the fourth, with Mills later scoring one of his own for the Demons. But Noah Foris punched right back for the Cowboys, making it a four-point lead for Crowder with 4:31 to play as a timeout was called.

Wills nabbed a baseline score on the other side, cutting the deficit down to two. But Mills would be fouled on the other end, making both shots from the charity stripe to extend the lead once again.

McClendon later got a rebound and flew down the floor, finding Church on the opposite block for two. Wills would next be sent to the line, making the front end to trim the Crowder lead down to one point with 2:35 to play.

Treaston Craven answered for Crowder with a swishing three to push the lead back to four. Allison would then be fouled, hitting both to make it 50-44.

As the teams battled in the final 60 seconds, Mills was fouled and made one to extend the lead to seven. The Cowboys would next be forced to foul to stop the clock, sending Allison to the line once again — where he sank the back end to help seal away the win.

PITTSBURG 79, CANADIAN 47

The Panthers hit a rhythm early, and didn't look back.

Pittsburg faced off against Canadian in the Pitt 8 Conference Tournament consolation finals on Saturday at Crowder, where the Panthers used an explosive first half on the way to a 79-47 win.

Parker Horton put the Panthers on the board first, with Garrett Wood following that up with a triple. Macen Cano answered for the Cougars with a three of his own, with Camden Harris later adding a bucket of his own.

But the Panthers kept pushing, and rattled off a scoring run that featured points from Horton, Matthew Rice, and Landon Patterson on the way to a 27-13 lead after the first quarter.

In the second quarter, the Cougars responded with a scoring run of their own thanks to buckets from Gabe Hubbard and T.J. Cook. But Pittsburg kept applying pressure, answering Canadian's scores with points of their own to take a 40-23 lead at the half.

On the other side, the Panthers found their offensive momentum once again. They exploded out to a 27-16 run against the Cougars to take a 67-36 lead into the fourth quarter.

Both teams battled to the end, but it'd be the Panthers sealing away the consolation championship win.

Rice led the way for Pittsburg with 38 points, Wood with 17 points, Horton with 10 points, Patterson with six points, Josh Nix with five points, and Jax Johnson with three points.

Cook led Canadian with 22 points, followed by Harris with 12 points, Hubbard with eight points, and Cano with five points.