By Russell Frye, For the Enquirer

The Class 4A, Area 13 tournament tipped off on Monday night at Priceville High School. #1 Priceville played #4 West Morgan and then #2 John Paul II played #3 Danville.

Priceville 83 West Morgan 37

In the first game, Priceville jumped out to a big lead early and dismantled West Morgan by a final score of 83-37.

Priceville started the game on a 13-2 run with four different players scoring in the first four minutes of the game. During the second four minutes, West Morgan held their own, only being outscored by three. The Lady Bulldogs led 26-12 after the first quarter.

West Morgan hit three free throws to start the second quarter and cut the lead to 26-15. This was the closest the game would be from this point forward. The Lady Bulldogs went on a 17-0 run to extend their lead to 43-15. The went into halftime with a 47-21 lead.

Priceville’s starters played about four minutes of the third quarter and went on a 14-3 run to push the lead to 61-24. Coach Terri Nelson took her starters out and rested them the rest of the game.

The Lady Bulldogs’ bench players scored 22 points over the final 12 minutes of the game, outscoring the Lady Rebels by nine points.

Priceville had three players score in double-figures as Kathleen Wheeler led the way with 22 points. Jenna Walker added 14 while Skyler Benson finished with 12. The three players combined for 48 of the Lady Bulldogs’ 83 points. The 83 points scored by the Lady Bulldogs is a season-high.

Benson also added eight assists to go along with Olivia Gann’s six as part of the Lady Bulldogs having 27 assists on 34 made baskets. Nelson said, “Our unselfishness with ball tonight was fun to watch.”

The Lady Bulldogs also got points from Lannah Johnson (8), Zoey Benson (5), Taylor Dean (5), Kassie Duran (4), Abigail Garrison (4), Brianna Marquette (4), Olive Duran (3) and Olivia Gann (2).

After the game, Nelson said, “Tonight’s game was a great one. We got quality minutes from every player tonight. I’m excited for this team.”

West Morgan was led by Allie Bice who finished with 7 points. Madison Stedham and Michalia Henson each added six points.

Area Championship Game

The area championship game will be Thursday night at 7:00 pm. Priceville and Danville will be meeting for the third time this season, with Priceville sweeping the Lady Hawks during the regular season.

The winner of Thursday night’s game with host the Sub-Regional game on Monday, February 11 while the loser will have to travel.