If basketball fans wanted to see close games, Jasper was the place to be on Thursday night.
In the 1A-1East District Tournament being played at Jasper, the night was filled with close contests with only game that ended in a double digit win.
That game was in senior girls play as No. 2 Jasper downed No. 3 Alpena, 58-47. In the other senior girls contest, No. 1 Kingston dismissed No. 4 Omaha, 56-48.
In senior boys action, No. 3 Omaha defeated No. 2 Kingston, 59-55, while No. 1 Jasper moved past Lead Hill, 56-47.
In the upcoming Class 1A Region 1 Tournament that will be held at Huntsville High School beginning Wednesday.
Depending on the finish in girls action, the winner of the district tournament will play a 7 p.m. on Wednesday. The second-place team will play at 4 p.m. on Thursday. The Alpena girls will play at 7 p.m. on Thursday and the Omaha girls will play at 4 p.m. on Wednesday.
The winner of the boys tournament will play at 8:30 p.m. on Wednesday and the runner-up will play at 5:30 p.m. on Thursday.
The Lead Hill Tigers will play at 5:30 p.m. on Wednesday and the Kingston boys will play at 8:30 p.m. on Thursday.
Senior Girls
Kingston 58, Omaha 48
Kingston executed down the stretch to defeat Omaha, 56-48.
The Lady Yellow Jackets had a 41-28 lead heading into the final period.
Pushing the lead out to start the period, the Lady Yellow Jackets didn’t allow Omaha to get closer than 12 points.
Omaha couldn’t get closer than 12 points until the final minute of the contest. The Lady Eagles cut the score to a 10-point difference and then with 39 seconds they pulled within eight points.
Kingston struggled at the free throw going 1-of-4 in the last minutes of the game.
To start the game, the Lady Yellow Jackets jumped out to a 15-4 lead as Lila Hartness had eight of the Kingston 15 points.
In the second frame, Hartness scored nine points as Paige Randall added seven and Callie Edgmon six.
Edgmon hit two treys in the frame and Hartness and Randall knocked down one each.
Payton Matlock hit two 3-pointers in the frame for the Lady Eagles. Omaha was only 1-of-6 from the charity stripe in the frame.
Kingston led 37-17 with a half left to play.
The Lady Yellow Jackets were led in scoring by Hartness with 23 points. Edgmon added 16, Randall 2, Lauren Fancher and Rilee Pittman two each and Emma Kivell one.
Omaha was led by Matlock with 16 points. Maddie Physny added 12, Remington Crouch 11, Laila Arnold five and Clara Alfrord four.
Jasper 58, Alpena 47
The Jasper Lady Pirates added a few points at the end of each break on the way to posting a 58-47 win.
The Lady Pirates moved to a 13-11 lead at the first break and then was ahead, 29-26, at intermission.
Jasper added the most points to its lead in the third frame. Camber Shrum had seven points for the Lady Pirates as they outscored Alpena, 13-8, in the frame.
Four players scored in double digits for Jasper. Jadeyn Middleton had 15 points for the Lady Pirates. Laney Daniels added 13, Tiana Siebert 12, Shrum 11, Willa Young four and Maggie Thomas three.
Alpena was led by Laini Block with 16 points. Cassidy Ohler and Bryanna McNair had eight each, Crandall Eppes six, Rhonnnie Jetton five and Yazia Gonzalez four.
Senior Boys
Jasper 56, Lead Hill 47
A 12-0 Jasper run in the second period gave the home team some breathing room as they defeated Lead Hill, 56-47.
The Pirates led 8-5 after the first period. Lead Hill came back and knotted the game at 10-10.
Jasper moved ahead, 22-10, in the second frame. The Pirates moved ahead, 25-14, at intermission.
Lead Hill got hot in the third period and scored 20 points. They cut the Pirate lead to 41-34 with eight minutes left.
Jasper was 7-of-12 from the free throw line in the final period, but they added four field goals to the total to secure the win.
Leading the Pirates in scoring was Spencer Traywick with 19 points. Sawyer Willis added 13, Malijah Campbell 10, Canaan Hudson eight, Blake Williams five and Ty Williams one.
Lead Hill was led by Kaden Baker with 15 points. Coda Lemon added 13, Nicklas May and Nolan Turner eight each and Haygan Dotson three.
Omaha 59, Kingston 55
Omaha came from behind in the fourth period to post a 59-55 win.
Dylan Greenwood had three 3-pointers in the final frame as Omaha scored 19 points.
Omaha jumped out a 17-10 lead at the end of the first period.
The Yellow Jackets cut a point off of the lead to make it a 28-22 score at halftime.
Chism Floyd scored 13 Kingston points in the third period as the Yellow Jackets took the one point lead into the fourth period.
Leading Omaha in scoring was Briar Whitehurst with 15 points. Noah Morrison added 14, Greenwood 12, Jonathan McKinney nine, Sam Edwards eight and Creyton Gross one.
Leading Kingston in scoring was Floyd with 26 points. Colton Clemons added 12, Ethan Clark and Joshua Cooper six each and Hunter Farrar five.
