Gravette girls edge out Elkins

ELKINS -- Gravette junior Kyrstin Branscum has ice in her veins. That's the only explanation for her clutch performance Friday night in the Lady Lions' highly contested 51-44 win over the Elkins Elks.

Branscum led all scorers with 19 points and was perfect from the free-throw line, knocking in 11-of-11.

She sealed the win for the Lions (15-8) by making six consecutive free throws in the fourth quarter, four of which came within the last minute of the game, and coming up with a steal with 30 seconds left that killed a promising Elkins' possession.

"I always feel good when she goes to the line," Gravette coach Will Pittman said. "She hardly ever misses down the stretch."

Branscum's strong play highlighted the Lions' turnaround in the middle of the third quarter that led to their first lead of the night since early in the second quarter.

After being down by five at the half, Gravette went on an 18-4 run to start the second half which turned the momentum of the game in the Lions' favor.

"We needed something good to happen," Pittman said. "There wasn't much going on in the first half and that jump-started us."

Elkins (13-9, 6-3) battled back late in the third, pulling within two points of Gravette, but the Lions would never surrender the lead the rest of the night. Kenadie Kestner paced the Elks' offense with 18 points, and Alyson Coleman and KD Miller pitched in seven points apiece.

Gravette jumped into a full-court press in the second half that forced the Elks to commit costly turnovers late in the game and stifled their offense, which was one of the main factors for Elkins' first-half lead. The Lions held Elkins to only six points in the final quarter.

Elkins' turnovers led to fast-break opportunities for the Lions that they took advantage of by getting to the free-throw line 13 times in the fourth.

Boys

Gravette 58, Elkins 32

Gravette (16-4, 13-1) set the tone early in its win over Elkins (8-10, 5-9), outscoring the Elks in the first three quarters by a large margin.

The Lions were led by Dayton Wishon and Chris Childress on offense with each scoring 12 points. They were just two of eight players for Gravette to score in the game.

Elkins' Chad Graham was the sole Elk to record double-digit points on the night with 11.

Girls

Gravette 51, Elkins 44

Gravette^10^12^18^11^--^51

Elkins^8^19^11^6^--^44

Gravette: Branscum 19, Foster 14, Bookout 7, Kildow 5, Dixon 3, Garcia 3

Elkins: Kestner 18, Coleman 7, Miller 7, Parrish 4, Boaz 3, Harris 3, Diaville 2

Boys

Gravette 58, Elkins 32

Gravette^20^11^23^4^--^58

Elkins^8^8^8^8^32

Gravette: Wishon 12, Childress 12, Trembly 9, Duke 9, Miller 5, Soule 5, Johnson 4, Kardynalski 2

Elkins: Graham 11, Evans 8, Lewis 5, Shumate 4, Shackelford 3, Clevenger 1

Sports on 02/01/2017