Denied a chance at an outright Gasconade Valley Conference (GVC) title following a 69-64 overtime loss at Steelville last Tuesday night, Jeff Schultz’s Belle Tigers looked to end their regular season on a winning note Friday night on the road in Westphalia against Fatima’s Comets.

Belle was also looking to avenge a 61-55 loss to the Comets during the Legends Bank Holiday Classic at Linn High School back in December.

Trailing 12-8 after one quarter, the Tigers outscored the Comets 18-7 in the second quarter helping them to a 26-19 halftime lead.

Pushing their lead into double digits after three quarters by a score of 46-34, Belle went on to post a 61-51 road victory over Fatima marking their first win over the Comets in over 20 years.

Kooper Elrod led three Tigers in double figures with 19 points.

Hank Willis also reached double digits scoring 10 of his 12 points in the second half while Hank Stratman added 10 points.

Kelhen Struemph and Garrett Gehlert nearly made it five Tigers in double figures finishing with nine points apiece.

Luke Rohrer rounded out the Belle scoring in Westphalia with two points on a pair of third-quarter free throws.

Blake Kliethermes led Fatima with 17 points.

Nick Halbrook’s Belle JV Tigers trailed Fatima 21-14 at halftime but could not get any closer before ending up on the wrong side of a 43-34 final score.

Cooper Guinn paced the JV Tigers scoring all of his team-high 10 points in the second half.

Tucker Harris added six points followed closely with five markers from David Skaggs.

Lathan Miller and Braxton Ahart each chipped in four points to go along with three points from Easton Schroeder on a second-quarter 3-pointer.

Malachi Fredendall rounded out Belle’s scoring in JV action with two points on a second-quarter basket.

Tigers at Steelville

In control of their GVC destiny, Belle’s Tigers ventured into Crawford County last Tuesday night to face Steelville’s Cardinals.

Trailing 31-19 at halftime, Belle was able to get the deficit back into single digits after three quarters trailing 46-38.

Outscoring Steelville 20-12 in the fourth quarter, Belle was able to tie the game at 58-58 forcing a four-minute overtime period.

Edged 11-6 in the extra session, Belle wound up on the short end of a 69-64 final score.

Stratman led four Tigers in double figures with 17 points while Elrod scored all 14 of his points in the second half and overtime.

Struemph added 13 points which included four made 3-pointers to go along with 12 points from Gehlert.

Willis chipped in five points to go with three points from Rohrer on a fourth-quarter 3-pointer.

In spite of a game-high 20 points from Guinn, Belle also ended up on the short end of a 53-44 final score in JV action at Steelville.

Miller added nine points to go along with four markers from Fredendall.

Skaggs threw in three points while the JV Tiger quartet of Brayden Gibson, Harris, Ahart and Schroeder each added two points.

Ending their regular season at 22-4, Belle will face Bourbon’s Warhawks on Tuesday, Feb. 24 at 6:30 p.m. in first-round action at the Missouri State High School Activities Association (MSHSAA) Class 3, District 8 Boys Basketball Tournament at Laquey High School.