Over the weekend, conference tournament champions were crowed at South Adams (ACAC) and Westview (NECC) as last Saturday night concluded this year’s storied-rich conference tournaments. This signals the near end to the regular season for girls’ basketball, and the official halfway mark for the boys’ for these two conferences.

NECC Girls: Eastside 45, Fairfield 31

Eastside started this game up 16-5 after the first quarter, but Fairfield pitched a 13-0 shutout in the second to take a 18-16 lead into the locker room. Fairfield started the 3rd quarter leading 23-16 at the 6 minute mark. However, Fairfield committed 20 of their 30 turnovers in the 2nd half as Eastside fueled a 18-0 run to go into the final quarter up 9 on their way to concluding the game on a 29-8 run. 

Taylor Mack and Lily Kreischer combined for 23 of the team’s 45 points in the championship-clinching game. This is the first time in program history that the Lady Blazers have repeated as NECC Tournament Champions.

NECC Boys: Westview 73, Garrett 38

What began as a seesaw first quarter turned ugly fast. Westview shot 62% from the floor and 53% from the 3-point line to derail Garrett’s chances of their first conference tournament in 21 years. Austin Schlabach led the pace with 24 points as Westview’s 35-point win is the largest in a title game in the history of this tournament. 

Foul trouble from Isaiah King and poor shooting doomed Garrett’s chances in what was otherwise a great conference tournament. This is Westview’s 16th NECC Tournament title, a tournament record, and their first since 2019. 

ACAC Girls: Bluffton 84, Southern Wells 31

In the first All-Wells County ACAC Tournament championship, Bluffton never left any doubt on the outcome of this game as the Lady Tigers shot 53% from the floor and grabbed 31 rebounds (12 offensive). Tournament MVP Isabella Stout had 26 points as ACAC champion Bluffton wins their first conference tournament. 

The senior wing averaged 22.3 points throughout the tournament. Bluffton sets new ACAC tournament records with the most points ever scored in a championship game and largest margin of victory. 

ACAC Boys: Woodlan 48, Heritage 34

The Warriors entered the 102nd ACAC Tournament with a record of 5-6. However, the Warriors picked a better time to play their best basketball as they dominated all three tournament games. 

Woodlan’s star forward Trey Yoder was named Tournament MVP as he led the tournament in scoring highlighted by a 33-point performance against Jay County. Oliver Adams was the star in that championship game recording 18 points on 9-9 shooting and grabbed 8 rebounds. 

This is Woodlan’s 14th ACAC Tournament title and their first since 2020.