Southeast Missourian Christmas Tournament: Kelly ousts Leopold in consolation quarterfinal

After Leopold senior Zach Elfrink converted on a three-point play to tie the game at 21-all with 6 minutes, 35 seconds remaining in the third quarter, 13th-seeded Kelly closed out the period with a 16-3 run and held on for a 46-33 win in a consolation quarterfinal of the Southeast Missourian Christmas Tournament on Saturday at the Show Me Center.

"We're two teams that are in similar boats," Kelly coach Ryan Garnett said. "We're rebuilding. We're trying to develop character. We're teaching the game, all those little things. I think our guys came out ready to play."

The Hawks (2-7) had eight players contribute points in the victory, including sophomore Cayden Williams, who finished with a team-high 10 points.

"It was a great team effort," Garnett said. "We were able to kind of figure out our rotation. ... I thought everybody stepped up pretty big. We were able to play eight guys solidly, and they all stepped up."

Kelly broke a tie at 10-all with a 7-0 run that extended into the second quarter, but Elfrink knocked down a 3-pointer from the left side of the arc with six seconds remaining in the half that ended a 6-2 run for the 12th-seeded Wildcats (1-7), who trailed 18-16 at halftime.

Elfrink led all scorers with 23 points.

"Right now, Zach's got the ball in his hands a lot, and it's not out of selfishness or anything like that. He's trying to help us win," Leopold coach Corey Brownsberger said. "We just need to get somebody to help him out, so he doesn't feel like he needs to do so much."

After facing a 13-point deficit at the start of fourth quarter, Elfrink scored all of Leopold's points in an 8-2 run that cut Kelly's lead to 39-32 midway through the period.

However, Elfrink fouled out minutes later, and the Hawks closed out the game with a 7-1 spurt.

Kelly employed a full-court press throughout the game, which rattled the Wildcats' offense.

"We pretty much tried to pressure them the entire game," Garnett said. "Obviously our focus was on Elfrink. He's a great player. He's their No. 1, and we wanted to be able to pressure everyone else and make some things happen defensively."

The Hawks return to action at noon on Monday against ninth-seeded Oran, which defeated 16th-seeded Delta 89-17.

Kelly 12 6 19 9 -- 46

Leopold 10 6 8 9 -- 33

KELLY (46) -- Maurice Davis 6, Kade Proctor 3, Ty Householder 3, Dalton Huffman 6, Cayden Williams 10, Levi Alsup 4, Jacob McClain 6, Conner Dittlinger 8. FG 18, FT 6-17, F 15. (3-pointers: Proctor 1, Williams 3. Fouled out: none.)

LEOPOLD (33) -- Garrett Thele 4, Zach Elfrink 23, Cody Gentry 2, John Gray 4. FG 12, FT 6-12, F 16. (3-pointers: Thele 1, Elfrink 2. Fouled out: Cord Cooper, Elfrink.)