Sullivan Eagles Win Back-To-Back District Championships
The Eagles basketball team has been collapsing opponents all season. Sullivan’s stellar team has been steamrolling teams, and on Friday their hard work paid off with a Class 4 District 3 championship. Sullivan slayed the Salem Tigers at St. James, 61-44.
In the first quarter, the Eagles grabbed an early lead. Aiden Kirk pushed Sullivan up by five with a three pointer from the right side. Gavin Dace slammed in a layup, and Salem took a timeout with less then five minutes left. Gavin Dace and Chris Glaser tallied two layups off the glass back to back, then Salem’s Trethan Richter scored a basket and Salem’s Easton May sailed in a three point basket to end the quarter. Sullivan was up, 15-10.
In the second quarter, Sullivan stayed motivated. Gabe Dace landed an inside shot. When Richter landed a big three, Kirk answered back with a three point basket and a big drive to the basket. Salem took a timeout. Gabe Dace scored two points from a technical foul called against the Tigers and Richter sank in a layup to follow. Sam Summers added a layup off the glass to finish out the first half. Sullivan led Salem, 26-15.
In the third quarter, the Tigers found some late motivation. Drake Gawer drained a three point basket from the left side and Gabe Dace followed with a layup. May grabbed a layup and a free throw, and Sullivan’s Head Coach Dino McKinney took a timeout with a little over four minutes in the quarter. May landed another layup before Summers did the same. Salem’s Haiden Sanders sailed in a three point basket from the left corner, and Gavin Dace answered back with a layup. Summers crashed a layup off the glass and drew the foul to sink another free throw. Richter reacted with a Salem score, and Salem grabbed some late momentum after May scored a basket. Gavin Dace added two more free throws before Salem scored a layup at the buzzer.
In the final quarter, Sullivan sealed Salem away. Salem scored on a jumping layup and Summers answered back with a fast break to the basket. Gavin Dace stole the ball on the defense side and Sullivan took a timeout with a little less than six minutes left. Summers added two free throws and Sanders splashed a three pointer off the glass. May sent in another three pointer from the top of the key, so Coach McKinney took a timeout with a little over five minutes left. Gavin Dace sank five points in back to back. Sullivan’s defense continued to overpower the Tigers when Gawer stole the ball back for Sullivan. Salem took a timeout and added a free throw when the action resumed. Gabe Dace did the same thing and his brother Gavin answered another Salem score with a layup. Richter drained a three point basket from the right corner and Sullivan scored their last points from the free throw line. Sullivan became district champions, 61-44.
Gavin Dace scored the most points with 19. Gabe Dace and Summers followed with 13 points each. Kirk had 12 and Gawer had three. Seth Valley finished with a free throw in the fourth. The official stats for the defense were unavailable at press time.
Sullivan played MICDS on Monday at Farmington and results were unavailable at press time. There will be more information about that game in next week’s issue of your Sullivan Independent News.