Studley sweet for Cyclones

Senior forward's 29 points power Ottawa girls past Eudora for tournament title

? Several high school girls basketball teams have witnessed it this season. Saturday, Eudora had a front-row seat at the Kelsie Studley Show.

Ottawa’s senior forward scored 29 points as the Cyclones captured the Wellsville Top Gun Invitational title with a 62-44 victory against the Cardinals.

“I was just so pumped,” Studley said. “We wanted to win this more than anything … This was one of our goals. It feels so great that we accomplished it.”

In Thursday night’s semifinal victory over Spring Hill, Studley suffered a mild concussion with five minutes left in the second quarter and didn’t return.

Apparently, she’s fine.

“She just came back with vengeance,” Ottawa coach Cliff McCullough said.

Both teams struggled from the field in the first half. Eudora hit 25 percent of its shots; Ottawa made 36. Stagnant offenses led to a slight Cyclone halftime advantage, 21-18.

Then came the third quarter. The Cardinals (5-6) continued their inefficiency, and the Cyclones (11-1) went to Studley.

“That’s kind of what we’ve done all year,” McCullough said. “She’s kind of been our go-to person. All year long our girls have done a great job finding Kelsie.”

Ottawa outscored EHS 24-10 in the third quarter.

“That flat third quarter pretty much killed us,” Eudora coach Cara Kimberlin said.

The Cyclones balanced out Studley’s interior offense with strong perimeter shooting from Mallory Geist (14 points) and Jara Vance (10).

Studley and Vance were joined by teammates Megan Ramsey and Caitlin Smith on the all-tournament team. Other area members included Eudora’s Michelle Deluna — who led her squad with 11 points — and Baldwin’s Katelyn Miles.

Spring Hill 65, Baldwin 60, OT

In spite of trailing 31-16 at halftime, Baldwin regrouped and sent the third-place game into overtime, but was outscored 7-2 in the extra frame. A last-second bank shot in the fourth quarter by Kelsey Verhaeghe led to OT. Ellie Meinen came off the bench for BHS (7-5) and scored a team-high 16 points.

“She has the ability to score,” Baldwin coach Eric Toot said. “She showed it tonight.”

Wellsville 47, Anderson County 43

Wellsville almost lost the fifth-place game after it was outscored 17-8 in the fourth quarter by Anderson County. Sophomore Erica Patton led the Eagles with 20 points.