Bethel boys capture Cashion Tournament consolation crown
CASHION – John Gordon fired in 23 points while hitting a pair of treys Saturday as the Bethel Wildcats thumped Fairview 67-40 for the consolation championship of the Cashion Tournament.
Gordon scored 13 of his points in the second half.
DJ Whitten supplied 15 points, including one 3-pointer, and Bray Bussell contributed 14 points.
Whitten, who had one trey in the game, tossed in eight points in the opening quarter. Bussell tallied six points each in the first and fourth quarters.
“It was a great team effort. We forced a lot of turnovers which led to transition points,” said Bethel head coach Jace Stewart.
Bronc Robbins added eight points to the Wildcat attack. Jake Stephenson was next with five and Jace Stewart tacked on two.
Eight players got into the scoring column for Fairview, but none scored in double figures.
Fairview sank six treys in the contest.
The Wildcats (9-5) opened the game with a 22-12 first-quarter run, went on a 14-9 spurt in the second while building a 36-21 lead at the break and then outscored Fairview 14-6 in the third as Bethel had a 50-27 advantage going into the fourth.
Bethel 62, Varnum 58 (Friday)
A quality opening half was beneficial to Bethel as it improved to 8-5.
The Wildcats, who led 25-18 after the first quarter and 43-31 at halftime, never relinquished the lead down the stretch but was outscored 27-19 the final 16 minutes.
“The last three minutes, we turned the ball over several times and they hit some shots,” Stewart said. “We’ve had some kids sick but they came out focused and shot the ball well.”
Bussell was Bethel’s scoring kingpin with 18, followed by Robbins with 14 and Jace Stewart with 12.
Stewart racked up three 3-point field goals. Whitten posted Bethel’s other 3-pointer.
Bethel was accurate on 6-of-8 free throws for 75%. Varnum was 10 of 15 from the line for 66.6%.
Note: Sports Editor Brian Johnson contributed to this report.
This article originally appeared on The Shawnee News-Star: Bethel boys capture Cashion Tournament consolation crown
