Elkmont stops Danville in Area 15 Tourney

Danville’s Hawks (15-10) got the best of Elkmont for nearly three quarters before they hit a cold streak and went on to lose to Elkmont, 53-64, in the first round of the Class 3A, Area 15 Basketball Tournament at Danville Friday night.
The Hawks jumped out to a 15-9 first quarter lead and were ahead by nine points, 28-19, at halftime. Elkmont (11-16) came back to tie the contest at 37-all at the end of three quarters and outscored the Hawks 27 to 16 in the final period to win and advance to the tournament final.
The two teams split with home and home wins during the regular season.
Elkmont surged ahead early in the final period on the strength of Michael Carter’s three straight 3-pointers and the Hawks were never able to recover.
“We had runs early and late in the first half before they went to a half court trap defense,” said Danville head coach Doug Oldacre. “We didn’t react well to it and fell into a cold streak. We weren’t getting the looks at the basket that we were in the first half.
This is a good group of kids. They love basketball and work hard. They are going to be successful in life and that’s what counts most.”
Carter and Grant Skylar each had 17 points to lead the winners in scoring and Cole Glass had 16 points.
Eric Cordova paced the Hawks with 15 points, eight of which were scored in the first half. Dylan Woods followed with 11 and Trey Jones and Zack Alred had eight points each.

Danville’s Eric Cordova eludes Elkmont defenders as he drives to the basket in the first quarter of Friday night’s area tournament game. He led his team in scoring with 15 points.