By the end of the second quarter the gymnasium was quiet, the Crest High fans had cheered enough and the Elk Valley High’s bleachers didn’t know what had hit them.
It was a one-sided matchup from the start Friday night at the Allen Community College gymnasium. The Lancers routed the Elk Valley Lions 65-23 to advance to the finals of the Class 1A, division II substate tournament against Chetopa High tonight.
“We had Chetopa on our minds from the start, maybe that’s why we started out kind of slow in the first quarter,” Lancer coach Travis Hermreck said.
Whatever slowness he was referring to, didn’t last for long. Tim Vance hit the first shot for the Lions, and those were the last points they saw for most of the quarter. The Lancers went on a 19-0 run from there, with scores from Jesse Boone, Jordan Morton, Kyle Hammond and Austin Greene. The speed of the Lancers could not be matched, and the Lions could not pull down rebounds on defense.
Nicholas Monjure broke the run with two field goals late in the first quarter to bring the score to 21-6.
That’s when things started to get rough.
The Lancers’ starting lineup did not allow another point from their opponent until they were taken out of the game, well into the third quarter.
Crest mounted an offensive onslaught that ultimately became a 35-0 run over Elk Valley. Rebounds were making their way to the Lancers’ hands, and their shots were falling. They had 29 points in the second quarter alone. The halftime score had the Lancers up 50-6 over their opponent. The crowd was stunned.
Boone, Hammond and Morton each hit from the field to start the third quarter. Hermreck called a timeout for his team, to substitute a new lineup off of the bench. The Crest fans stood to applaud as the starters took their seat.
Monjure ended the second streak for the Lions with a field goal with four minutes remaining in the third quarter. The substituted Lancers didn’t make things easy for the Lions either.
Kellen Ramsey hit two foul shots before hitting another from underneath to make the score 60-17 going into the fourth.
Morton led in scoring for the Lancers with 21 points, followed by Hammond with 15 and Boone with seven.
Hermreck said his team needs to focus on the next hurdle, Chetopa tonight. The Hornets defeated Crest earlier in the season by seven points, after a hard-fought game.
“They are solid, they don’t hurt themselves,” Hermreck said. “We have got to have our minds in the right place.”
Elk Valley (6-0-11-6—23)
Crest (21-29-10-5—65)
Elk Valley (FG/3pt-FT-F-TP): Vance 2-0-4-4, Ferguson 0-1-1-1, Dowell 0-2-2-2, Monjure 4-5-3-13, Blankenship 0-1-1-1, Duke 1-0-3-2. TOTALS: 7-9-14-23.
Crest (FG/3pt-FT-F-TP): Frazell 1-0-2-2, Boone 3-1-2-7, Green 2-1-1-5, Godderz 0-2-1-2, Stephens 0-0-2-0, Strickler 1-1-1-3, Morton 4/3-4-1-21, Hammond 6/1-0-1-15, Ellis 3-0-2-6, Ramsey 1-2-2-4, Brallier 0-0-1-0. TOTALS: 21/4-11-16-65.
Lancers roar over Elk Valley
