LAQUEY— Neither were pretty but both got the job done.
Both the Stoutland Tigers and Newburg Wolves were victorious in opening round games of the Class 2 District 8 boys basketball tournament Monday night at Laquey High School, but it wasn’t easy.
The top-seeded Tigers overcame a sluggish offense and turnovers to knock off the feisty eighth-seeded Crocker Lions 72-50 in the first game of the night.
In the other first round game, the fourth-seeded Newburg Wolves and fifth-seeded Richland Bears combined for 51 turnovers in a sloppily-played 92-62 Wolf rout of the Bears.
The Tigers will take on the Wolves in the semifinals Thursday night at 6 p.m.
(1) Stoutland 72, (8) Crocker 50
Although the Tigers won handily (82-29) the last tie these two teams met, this time the Lions hung around for longer than they would have preferred.
The Tigers outscored the Lions 21-10 at the end of the first quarter, but the Crocker defense held the Tigers to a more manageable 15 in the second quarter; Stoutland only led 36-23 at halftime.
Stoutland let the Lions hang around thanks to some missed shots and turnovers at the start of the third period, and the Lions climbed back.
A.J. Imilkowski’s lay-up following a steal from Andrew Lowe cut the Tiger lead to single digits, 49-40, but Tiger coach Lynn Long called a timeout.
From there Stoutland went on a 11-0 run over the next two minutes to make it a 20-point lead, which they held for the rest of the game.
Billy Willard led the Tigers, now 22-3, with 23 points and 11 rebounds; Travis Miller netted 19.
Crocker, which finishes the season 5-18, was led by Lowe with 12 and Keith Kutscher with 11.
Senior Donnie Smith grabbed 14 rebounds.
(4) Newburg 92, (5) Richland 62
Although the Newburg Wolves (now 15-10) scored 92 points Wednesday night against Richland, it wasn’t an ideal victory.
The teams combined for 51 turnovers and saw things get heated when Richland coach Kent Stombaugh was ejected midway through the second quarter after two technical fouls.
Both teams, and their fans, were abuzz for the rest of the second quarter, but Newburg led 53-36 going into the locker room.
The lead never got under 15 in the third, but the Wolves didn’t pull away for 30 until the end of the fourth quarter.
Led by Johnny Mudd with 16, four Wolves reached double figures. Brandon Sutton led the team with 10 rebounds in addition to his 15 points.
Pat Posten led the Bears with 18 points, Aaron Tallant scored 10 and Jake Shelton grabbed six rebounds. Richland ends its season at 12-14.
