Cleveland Cruises Past Plainsmen in Semifinal Round


Cleveland Cruises Past Plainsmen in Semifinal Round
By Steve Dion

Thursday- December 29th 2016 Boys Tournament of Champions Semifinal
Franklin High School 1st 2nd 3rd 4th Final
Evergreen (Vancouver) 6 31 7 22 66
Cleveland 24 22 26 12 84

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Cleveland Junior Jahleel Breland

The defending Tournament of Champions champs Cleveland stood one game away from reaching the final round again with the Evergreen Plainsmen. The Eagles jumped out to a sizeable lead in the first half through opportunistic executing from airtight defense.

CJ Elleby and Fahad Sharif led the charge with 17 and 12 first half points respectively. However, the Plainsmen were able to cut the deficit before the break with Trey Ratcliff attacking the basket and willing his team to with 14 of a 31 point second quarter.

When play resumed, Cleveland found their groove again and put the ballgame out of reach heading into the final frame. Philip White and Jahleel Breland joined the scoring spree in the second half as the Eagles rolled to a 84-66 win. Can Jerry Petty lead his squad to back-to-back tournament wins?

The Final Score
Cleveland 84, Evergreen (Vancouver) 66.

Top Performers:
Cleveland
C.J. Elleby- 23 points

Evergreen (Vancouver)
Trey Ratcliff- 16 points