Area 4 Tourney tips off at Sunbright

    SUNBRIGHT—Seeding was important and seeding played true during the opening night of the Area 4 Middle School Tournament Saturday at Sunbright.
    Both the higher seed girls teams and the two higher seed boys teams won their battles in four games that were all decided by double-digits.
    The #4-seed Petros-Joyner Lady Patriots beat #5-Norwood 41-14, while #2-seed Sunbright knocked off #3-seed Oakdale 35-21 in girls action.
    The #4-Tigers rolled to a 42-23 victory over #5-seed Petros-Joyner, while the #2-seed Oakdale Eagles earned a championship berth with a convincing 44-14 win over #3-Norwood.
P.J. 41 NORWOOD 14 (GIRLS)
    The Petros-Joyner Lady Patriots advanced to the semifinals of the Area 4 Middle School Tournament with a convincing 41-14 victory over Norwood Saturday evening.
    P.J. led 22-3 at the half and held Norwood scoreless in the second quarter and only allowed one field goal in the opening 12 minutes. P.J. was led by Savannah Melton (11 points) and Kelsi Walters (6 points) in the first half.
    P.J. used a 14-4 edge in the third quarter to take a 36-7 advantage into the final period. Melton scored eight points in the quarter.
    In the fourth quarter, Norwood held a 7-4 edge to slice the final deficit to 41-14.
    The Lady Patriots were led by the scoring duo of Savannah Melton (18 points) and Kelsi Walters (8 points).
    Alex Bass led Norwood with six points.
    LADY PATRIOTS (41): Savannah Melton 18, Kelsi Walters 8, Hannah Wright 5, Brianna Brys 4, Micah Moore 2, McKynna Susak 2 and Hannah Lowe 1. Three-pointers (1)—Wright 1.
SUNBRIGHT 42 P.J. 23 (BOYS)
    Sunbright defended their home turf and earned a trip to the semifinals of the Area Middle School Tournament with a 42-23 win over Petros-Joyner Saturday evening.
    The Tigers set the tone with a 7-0 edge in the opening quarter with Eli Dial scoring five points to lead the charge.
    Rodney Dale West’s Patriots got things going in the second quarter and won the period by an 11-10 edge to pull within 17-11 at the break. P.J.’s Jacob Carroll scored five points to lead the way.
    Sunbright’s Noah Freels knocked down a pair of treys in the third quarter and the Tigers held the Patriots scoreless again as they built a 27-13 lead.
    The Tigers then put the game away with a 15-10 fourth quarter tilt to pull off the 43-23 win over P.J.
Sunbright was led by the scoring trio of Noah Freels (17 points), Eli Dial (7 points) and Braxton Swint (6 points).
    The Patriots were paced by Joey Winde (8 points) and Jacob Carroll (7 points).
    TIGERS (42): Noah Freels 17, Eli Dial 7, Braxton Swint 6, Logan Brown 4, Landon Ladd 2, Trenton Brown 2, Dalton Hamby 2 and Levi Daniel 2. Three-pointers (6)—Freels 3, Swint 2 and Dial 1.
    PATRIOTS (23): Joey Winde 8, Jacob Carroll 7, Derek Morgan 4, Ethan Broadus 3 and Dalton Vann 1. Three-pointers (1)—Carroll 1.
SUNBRIGHT 35 OAKDALE 21 (GIRLS)
    Sunbright punched their ticket to the Area Middle School Tournament Championship with a 35-21 victory over Oakdale Saturday evening.
    The Lady Tigers jumped out to a 12-7 lead after one quarter with Andrea Morgan scoring nine points.
    The two teams scored six points each in the second quarter with Sunbright taking an 18-13 lead into intermission.
    Sunbright put the game away with a 13-4 third quarter to push the lead to 31-17 advantage. Mercedes Chandler tallied five points for the Lady Tigers in the third quarter.
    The scoring pace slowed down in the fourth quarter with both teams just scoring four points each as the Lady Tigers took a 35-21 win.
    Sunbright was led by the 1-2 punch of Andrea Morgan (13 points) and Mercedes Chandler (8 points).
    Autumn Monkhouse (9 points) paced Oakdale.
    LADY TIGERS (35): Andrea Morgan 13, Mercedes Chandler 8, Chelsea Smith 4, Shelley Shannon 4, Hannah Bowling 4 and Halle Stephens 2. Three-pointers (1)—Morgan 1.
    LADY EAGLES (21): Autumn Monkhouse 9, Natalie Stewart 4, Hannah Coffey 4, Macayla Duncan 2 and Ellen Everett 2. Three-pointers (1)­—Monkhouse 1.
OAKDALE 44 NORWOOD 14 (BOYS)
    Oakdale has been shooting for an Area Championship all season long and they earned their chance with a 44-14 trouncing of Norwood Saturday night.
    The Eagles dominated the game from start to finish to notch the 30-point win.
    Oakdale led 12-2 after one quarter with Maverick Smith scoring four points to lead the way.
    The Eagles scored a 6-0 victory in the second quarter to build an 18-2 half-time cushion.
    Oakdale’s Brady Bingham caught fire in the third quarter and pumped in 11 points, including a three-pointer, to help build a 37-10 advantage with one quarter left.
    The Eagles used a 7-4 edge in the fourth period to take home a 44-14 win.
    Oakdale was powered by the 1-2-3 punch of Brady Bingham (15 points), Tyler Steinmetz (10 points) and Maverick Smith (10 points). Austin Lowe added 5 points.
    Norwood was paced by Kyle Vanwitzenburg (4 points).
    EAGLES (44): Brady Bingham 15, Maverick Smith 10, Tyler Steinmetz 10, Austin Lowe 5, Dillan Webb 2 and Ethan Johnson 2, Three-pointers (2)—Bingham 1 and Lowe 1.