With weary legs and the West Creek Coyotes seemingly attacking in waves during the Battle of the Border championship on Friday, the host Todd County Central Rebels couldn’t muster a comeback in their final game of 2022.
The Rebels saw a five-game winning run come to an end and finish 4-1 over a pair of holiday tournaments ahead of the New Year.
West Creek cruised into the title game with wins over Trigg County and Covington, TN, and the Coyotes raced out to a 7-1 lead against the Rebels to force a timeout.
Hayden Strader’s corner three-pointer cut the lead to a basket, but the Rebels had a handful of layups roll off and trailed by ten after a steal and score by West Creek’s Kayden Pace.
A layup by Todd’s Trayvon Foster to start the second quarter trimmed the margin to six at 22-16. The Coyotes built the cushion back to double figures before a layup and a three-pointer by Preston Rager cut it to four with 3:43 left in the half.
Todd Central opened the second half with a dunk by Foster off a lob from Rager to trim it to 31-21, but Pace answered with five straight for the Coyotes.
Pace had six points in the third, and his bucket down low gave West Creek their largest lead of the night at 46-35. But Rager scored eight in the frame, and his three-pointer with six seconds left had the Rebels back within single digits with a quarter to play.
Rager knocked down his fourth three of the night early in the fourth to finish with a game-high 22 points. However, the Rebels still trailed 68-58 inside the final minute until Perez Whitlock drilled a three.
West Creek missed the front end of a one-and-one, and Glass took the rebound and went the length of the floor for a layup and a 68-63 score with forty seconds to play.
But the Coyotes were a solid 11/14 from the free-throw line in the fourth, including five of their last six attempts, to seal the victory.
Todd Central’s starters accounted for all the offense, with Glass, Foster, and Whitlock joining Rager in double figures. The Rebels finished 5/13 at the free-throw line.
For the Coyotes, Pace finished with 20, Bowers and Devin Smith each had 14, and Shawn Villanea scored ten.
West Creek 22 9 18 24 — 73
Todd Central 14 13 14 24 — 65
West Creek (8-3) — Pace 20, Bowers 14, Smith 14, Villanea 10, Dugger 9, George 2, Harding 2, Lafortune 2
Todd Central (9-6) — Rager 22, Glass 16, Foster 12, Whitlock 10, Strader 5
