Saturday, April 27, 2024
The Evant Lady Elks were able to test some tough basketball teams in the Zephyr Tournament over the weekend to fine tune their skills for district play.
“We were able to play a couple of tough teams before we start up again with district play and hopefully we were able to learn from our mistakes and get something we can use to help us as the season progresses,’’ Evant coach Chad Baker said. “It was a long tournament with three games in three days and so I know the girls are feeling it, especially with only seven players. Once we figure out, we are capable of playing and competing with these better teams like May, Lometa and even Gordon last weekend, we will be all right. At any given time we could end up with five freshmen on the court, so considering we are a very young team, I have been pleased with our development so far this year. ‘’
Zephyr Tournament Results
May 51, Evant 24: In the opener, May jumped out to an early lead with a 14-4 scoring spree. By halftime, May had built a 32-6 lead.
May outscored Evant 11-6 in the third quarter before the Lady Elks closed with a strong fourth quarter.
Emiliegh Burton 14 led Evant’s scoring with 14 points.
Hailey Neri, Molly Waldrum, Caeleigh Burkham, Izzy Gandy and Luwi Rodriguez all had two points each for the Lady Elks.
“We really did not play well in this game,’’ Baker said. “We let their reputation scare us and we really fell apart versus their press. We also struggled to run offense and score in the half court. It was truly a lesson in humility.’’
In Game 2 Friday, Lometa held off the Lady Elks, 45-39.
The Lady Elks scored 25 points in the second half to keep pace.
Burton racked up 18 points against Lometa.
Other scorers were Luwi Rodriguez seven, Hailey Neri six, Izzy Gandy four, Caeleigh Burkham and Bree Ramirez with two each.
“We had a slow start and it cost us the game, because every other quarter we either outscored them, or scored the same as them. We made a couple runs in the second half, and got within two late in the third quarter,’’ Baker said. “I was happy that we competed with them this time and were able to bounce back from our poor outing against May.’’
May and Lometa played later in the tournament and May won in the last seconds by one point.
Evant 42, Bluff Dale 37: The Lady Elks rode a 19-point game from Burton to victory on Saturday over Bluff Dale.
Evant led from start to finish, taking a 19-9 lead after one quarter. Evant led 24-19 at half and 33-27 entering the fourth quarter.
Izzy Gandy and Luwi Rodriguez scored six each. Molly Waldrum added four, Caeleigh Burkham three and Bree Ramirez two points.
“We got out to a good start and that really was the difference in this game, much like Lometa did to us the game before. We got in foul trouble early, with four of seven players having four fouls going into the fourth quarter,’’ Baker said.
Only one fouled out.
“Key players had to sit early due to fouls and we let them get closer than we should have, but overall we played well and were able to pull off the win,’’ Baker said.
