GREENLAND -- The game plan in Thursday's 3A-1 West Conference tournament final was a simple one for Charleston: Get the ball the Hattie Newhart and Jada McDowell.
That blueprint worked perfectly.
Charleston 51, Elkins 36
Charleston ^14^8^12^17^—^51
Elkins^5^10^10^11^–^36
Charleston (18-7): Newhart 16, McDowell 14, Grandison 7, King 5, Green 4, McKenzie 3, Oldridge 2.
Elkins (18-9: Harris 14, Brink 8, Coleman 6, Diaville 4, Burton 4.
Newhart and McDowell combined for 30 points and Charleston rolled past Elkins 51-36 to clinch a No. 1 seed in next week's 3A-Region 1 Tournament.
"Shooting is the strength of our team," Charleston coach Jason Rucker said. "If we're shooting well, then we got a chance. We go one through nine, everybody can shoot it. And we live and die by it."
On Thursday, the Lady Tigers (19-6) lived, especially in the early going. In a game in which Charleston never trailed, the Lady Tigers started at a scorching pace. Behind 40 percent shooting in the first half, Charleston was able to jump out to an early lead.
Newhart scored nine first-quarter points, including buckets on four consecutive possessions, as the Lady Tigers' lead quickly swelled to double-digits.
"She's our senior captain. She leads us every night," said Rucker of Newhart.
Elkins was able to cut the deficit before the break behind the strength of its 3-point shooting. Trailing 17-5 with 4 minutes, 13 seconds remaining in the first half, Allison Coleman got hot from behind the arc, connecting on consecutive 3-pointers, to start a 10-2 Lady Elks (18-8) rally that trimmed Charleston's lead to four, 19-15, on consecutive buckets by Konley Kestner.
"Monica is a great coach," Rucker said of Elkins coach Monica Wells. "She always has her kids ready. Her kids are always going to play hard. We knew they were going to make a run, and we just had to withstand it."
A 3-pointer by Newhart stopped the Lady Elks' run. Payton Rucker connected from deep with 3:25 remaining in the third quarter to give Charleston a 12-point advantage.
The Lady Tigers hit 16-of-19 free throws down the stretch to secure the final score.
Newhart scored 16 to lead all scorers. McDowell scored 14 for the Lady Tigers.
Tink Harris led Elkins with 13 points.
Greenland defeated Cedarville 59-54 in the third-place game.
Boys
Charleston 65, Elkins 60
Brayden Ross had the hot hand for the Tigers, and Tigers coach BJ Ross was happy to keep feeding him.
Ross scored a team-high 18 points, including three in the second half that helped the Tigers pull away.
Elkins led by five points in the final two minutes of the third quarter before Ross went to work from the left corner. He connected on all three of his second-half 3-point shot attempts from that spot, with final giving the Tigers a 47-39 lead with 5:21 left in the final quarter.
Jacob Green scored 16 for Charleston, and Chase Ewing scored 15 despite fighting an illness that caused him to throw up at halftime.
Elkins' Chad Graham led all scorers with 22 points. Quinn McClain scored 13, and Layne Evans scored 11 for the Elks.
Cedarville defeated Mansfield 53-22 in the third-place game.
Preps Basketball on 02/16/2018