The Lake Today

The Eldon Mustangs started last week confident the Tri-County Conference was theirs to lose, but that didn’t stop them from leaving it all on the court for the final three games of the 2012 regular season.

They started on the road in Hallsville on Feb. 11. After a hard-fought court warming victory over California the previous night, it’s not too surprising they were in for a battle. The Hallsville Indians started out slow themselves, but fired up by the half and ended the game with a tie, sending it into overtime. The Mustangs prevailed with a 56-52 victory led by senior standout John Hall with 22 points.

Ryan Kliethermes added 19 points and was a solid 13 for 16 on free throws. Sam Lincoln finished with seven while Blake Randall and Zach Shreve each added three points and Brad Dinwiddie contributed two.

Tuesday the Mustangs were back at home to play conference rival Osage on Tuesday and found themselves down 20-11 after the first quarter. An 11-point run in the first minutes of the second period tied up the game at 22, and the Mustangs took a 38-32 lead into the lockers at the half.

The third quarter the Mustangs outscored the Indians by 4 points, but the final frame was the big one as the Eldon boys held Osage to only one point. The final tally was 77-50 and the Mustangs knew they would at least share the conference title depending on the season finale against Versailles.

Hall led the Mustangs with 21 points and Lincoln finished with 17 despite both regular starters sitting out the first minutes. Both players chose to let the other five seniors on the squad get starting time for the senior night honors.

Klierthermes added 14 points and Shreve netted 13. Blake Randall bucketed five points while Dinwiddie finished with three. Jamin Pyatt and Logan Shinn each contributed two points on the night.

Friday night’s regular season finale had the Tri-County title on the line against Versailles and they clinched with a 70-52 win over the Tigers.

The Class 4 District 10 Tournament is this week at Eldon. The No. 2 seed Mustangs (20-5) will take the court tonight against the No. 3 seed Fulton Hornets (9-14). The Hornets have faced the Mustangs twice this season and both times Eldon won. The winner of this match will go on to the championship game at 7:30 p.m. Friday against the victor of the Helias game at 6 p.m. tonight.