BASKETBALL: Bearcats claw back to eliminate Elverado
</element><element id="paragraph-1" type="body"><![CDATA[Elverado had control early but couldn't hang on against Christopher last night, as the Bearcats clawed their way back to eliminate the Falcons from the Class 1A Sesser-Valier Regional 53-46.
After the Bearcats controlled the opening tip, Bryce Mathis came away with a steal and a fast break layup for Elverado, then after a Christopher miss came down and hit a three-pointer for a quick 5-0 Falcons lead.
Daltun Hasty's three with 3:44 to go in the period made it 10-5 Falcons, and Christopher called for timeout to look for answers.
Hasty hit another triple with 36 seconds left in the period and Elverado led 19-13 after one, but he wouldn't find the bucket again before fouling out late in the fourth quarter.
Josh Sarensen took a feed from Hasty for an inside basket, then Jake Lipe hit a jumper with 5:03 left in the half that gave the Falcons their biggest lead of the night at 24-16.
A three from Kolten Pedigo with 15 seconds left in the second quarter completed a 6-0 run for Christopher, but Casey Hicks scored on a stick-back just before the halftime buzzer to lessen the blow and keep the Falcons in front 26-22.
Elverado then went cold from the field and allowed the Bearcats to take the lead on a corner three from Pedigo with 5:00 left in the third, a lead they never relinquished. Christopher runs of 7-0 and 6-0 left Elverado down 39-33 after the third.
The Bearcats extended their lead to as many as ten in the fourth, then a layup by Mathis and a steal and layup by Ben Kempfer with under a minute to go brought Elverado back to within five at 51-46, but the rally would end there.
Mathis led the Falcons with 12 points, Sarensen and Dalton Porter each had 8, Hasty and Kempfer 6, Hicks, Lipe and Kyle Whittington 2. Sean Harrison struggled to find any rhythm offensively and did not score for Elverado (4-19).
Pedigo finished with a game-high 15 points for Christopher and was joined in double figures by Devin Austill (13) and Steven Dial (12).
The third-seeded Bearcats (10-14) advanced into Thursday's Sesser-Valier Regional semifinal where they will meet Crab Orchard at 7:30 p.m.
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