On Saturday, January 25th, the Yellow Jackets continued in the Cisne 7th Grade Basketball Tournament. In the first game of the morning, the Yellow Jackets took on Fairfield in a semi-final game. The first quarter started out slow, as Fairfield took a commanding lead at 11-5. But, the Yellow Jackets found their stride in the second quarter and led at halftime 17-13. The third quarter went about as well as the first quarter, with Fairfield re-taking the lead 25-21. In the fourth quarter, as time was running out, Brendan Bowser hit a 3-pointer from the right wing to tie up the score at 33-33 and send the game to overtime. In the overtime, Fairfield jumped out on top and never looked back, winning the game 41-35. This would send the Yellow Jackets to the 3rd Place game to take on New Hope for a trophy. Scoring for the Yellow Jackets was: Kollin Kelsey with 12 points, Chase Gher with 9 points, Brendan Bowser with 5 points, Elliott Acree with 5 points, and Reed Stinson with 4 points.
In the 3rd Place game against New Hope, the Yellow Jackets started the first quarter much better than earlier and led 8-5. Staying consistent, the Yellow Jackets led at halftime 17-9 and were two quarters away from getting their first trophy in the Cisne Tournament. The halftime speech much have been inspiring, as the Yellow Jackets came out and took a commanding lead of 34-14 with 6 minutes left to play. All team members saw action in the fourth quarter and the Yellow Jackets captured the 3rd Place trophy with a 39-24 victory over New Hope. Scoring for the Yellow Jackets was: Kollin Kelsey with 14 points, Elliott Acree with 8 points, Reed Stinson with 5 points, Brendan Bowser with 5 points, Chase Gher with 4 points, Brady Porter with 2 points, and Cameron Kolb with 1 point. With the victory, the B-team closes their season with a final record of 11-7.
Next up for Yellow Jackets Basketball: Wednesday, January 29th in SIJHSAA Class S Regional play at Clay City. Yellow Jackets will play either Clay City or West Salem at 6 pm.
