The Hancock-Henderson Quill, Inc.
The West Central 7th Grade Boys Basketball team defeated Bushnell Prairie City Wednesday, January 29th in Stronghurst to claim the Regional Championship 44-38.
West Central jumped out to a big lead thanks to a 15-2 2nd quarter where Tyler Ricketts poured in 7 points.
The Heat carried the momentum into the third quarter with a 9-4 run thanks to 6 quick points from Wyatt Goff and a 3-pointer from Tanner Burrell to expand their lead to its biggest of the night, 37-15.
The Spartans of Bushnell Prairie City would not go away quietly, however.
Following a BPC timeout at the 3:18 mark in the 3rd quarter, the Spartans would go on a 15-2 run to cut the West Central lead to single digits.
Ricketts was able to momentarily stem the tide with a big 3-point play to push the lead back to 12 with 3:46 left in the 4th quarter.
BPC's Hunter Thompson would hit a couple tough 3's to tighten the score late, but the Heat were able to salt away the victory following a strong rebound by Ricketts and Mason Crum splitting a pair of free throws.
West Central had a balanced attack with all five starters finishing with 6 or more points.
Ricketts finished just shy of a double-double with 11 points, 9 rebounds and added 6 assists.
Goff finished with 12 points and 3 rebounds, followed by Liam Winters with 8 points and 7 boards and Crum with 7 points and 6 rebounds. Burrell wrapped up the scoring with 6 points and 4 boards.