By Michael Lindsay
York Institute fell in a pair of State Farm Showcase games in Lebanon Saturday afternoon as the Dragons fell to Lebanon 71-59 before the Dragonettes were defeated by Bearden, 47-40.
Boys
Fresh off a Friday-night victory at Jackson County, the Dragons faced host-school Lebanon in the first game and fell to the homestanding Blue Devils by 12 points.
Senior forward Heath Wattenbarger led the Dragons with 24 points along with 13 by fellow post Bryson Bilbrey.
York jumped out to a 7-2 lead early and extended their advantage to 14-6 via a Wattenbarger three-pointer late in the first quarter.
The Dragons held a 14-8 advantage exerting the second period before Lebanon tied the contest at 14 with 6:10 remaining until halftime.
Lebanon continued their run in the second quarter as they took a 28-21 lead with 1:46 remaining until halftime and entered the half up 30-25.
The Blue Devils pushed ahead by 9 points (42-33) with 4:02 left in the third quarter and led 49-38 entering the fourth quarter.
A pair of Wattenbarger free throws cut York Institute’s deficit to seven points (51-44) with 5:50 remaining, but the Dragons would get no closer as Lebanon held on to win by a 71-59 final score.
York Institute falls to 10-7 overall and is scheduled to host Monterey on Tuesday.
York Institute (59): Heath Wattenbarger 24, Bryson Bilbrey 13, Jackson Conatser 7, Carter Gibson 5, Will Beaty 4, Broc Parker 3, JD Anderson 2
Girls
A showdown of two state tournament teams from 2023 faced off in Lebanon Saturday as Bearden (18-1) defeated York Institute (13-5), 47-40.
Sophomore guard Raylee Werner led the Dragonettes with 10 points along with 9 by Emma Pile and 8 from Emma Cooper.
A Pile three-pointer gave York a 9-2 advantage to start the contest before Bearden answered with a 14-0 run to take a 16-9 lead early in the second quarter.
Back-to-back baskets from Cooper brought York within one point (21-20) with 2:44 remaining in the first half before Bearden pushed their lead back to six points by halftime, 26-20.
A Zoe Gibson three-pointer with 3:12 remaining in the third quarter cut Bearden’s lead to one possession (30-28) before the Lady Bulldogs closed the third quarter on a 7-3 run to lead 37-31 entering the fourth quarter.
Back-to-back baskets by Bearden gave the Lady Bulldogs a 42-31 lead with 6:34 remaining. A Reese Beaty basket with 1:55 remaining cut Bearden’s lead to six points at 43-37, but the Lady Bulldogs held on from there to win by a 47-40 final score.
York Institute is scheduled to host Monterey on Tuesday.
York Institute (40): Raylee Werner 10, Emma Pile 9, Emma Cooper 8, Reese Beaty 6, Zoe Gibson 5, Anna Beth Dunford 2
