Defeating Chamois’ Pirates and Newburg’s Wolves during pool play in the 10th Annual Belle Boys Basketball Tournament earlier in the week, Jeff Schultz’s Belle Tigers earned a place in last Thursday’s championship game against the top-seeded St. Clair Bulldogs.

Trailing briefly 2-0 in the opening minutes of the first quarter, Hank Stratman gave Belle a 6-4 lead at the 5:14 mark of the period and the Tigers never looked back en route to a 63-43 victory.

“We were able to get things done this week against three competitive basketball teams,” Schultz said. “St. Clair gave us fits in the first half before we were able to pull away in the third quarter by going on a 10-2 run.”

Trading baskets with the Bulldogs over the first eight minutes, Belle entered the second quarter with a slim 17-15 lead over St. Clair.

Nursing a 19-18 lead with 7:02 until halftime, a Kooper Elrod bucket sparked a 7-1 run helping the host Tigers to a 26-19 lead with 2:33 for the second quarter.

Seeing the Bulldogs get back to within five at 28-23 with 1:36 for the first half, Hank Willis and Garrett Gehlert each canned a pair of free throws in the final 52.5 ticks of the second quarter giving Belle a 32-23 halftime lead.

Looking to push their lead into double digits, Belle opened the second half on a 10-2 run sparked by a Hank Stratman bucket and capped by a Willis bucket at the 2:50 mark of the third quarter for a 42-25 lead.

Going on to lead 46-33 after three quarters, Belle ended the game on a 13-2 run after St. Clair got back within single digits at 50-41 with 5:36 remaining.

Willis led three Tigers in double figures with a double double of 20 points and 10 rebounds followed by 18 points from Stratman.

Gehlert also joined the double double club with 14 points, 10 rebounds and three assists.

Elrod also tossed in six points, seven rebounds, two steals and two assists.

Kelhen Struemph chipped in three points all on first-half free throws.

Also seeing minutes due to Elrod being in foul trouble, Kaegan Kinsey rounded out the Belle scoring against St. Clair with a third-quarter bucket for two points.

Belle Tournament Most Valuable Player (MVP) Carson Roemer led St. Clair with 22 points, four rebounds and four steals.

Tigers making the All-Tournament Team at Belle included Gehlert, Stratman and Wills.

Joining Roemer on the All-Tournament Team for the Bulldogs were Nathan Short and Clayton Ingram.

Tigers vs. Newburg

Matched up with Newburg’s Wolves last Wednesday night in their final game of pool play, Belle looked to avenge a 59-58 loss back in early December to their foes from Phelps County.

Entering halftime with a 40-34 lead, Belle pushed their advantage into double digits at 66-55 after three quarters before going on to avenge their previous loss to the Wolves by a final score of 89-71.

Elrod paced the Tigers with a double double of 23 points, 13 rebounds and six assists.

Willis was close behind with 21 points, six rebounds and two assists.

Stratman hit for 11 of his 17 points in the first half while also pulling down five rebounds and dishing out two assists.

Gehlert connected on 11 of his 16 points in the second half while also adding five rebounds, three assists and three steals to his double-digit point total.

Struemph made it a double-digit quintet for the Tigers finishing with 12 points on four made 3-pointers.

Tigers vs. Chamois

Opening play in their home tournament last Tuesday night in a Highway 89 showdown against Chamois’ Pirates, Belle already owned an 83-29 victory over their Osage County neighbors to the north.

This time around, Belle had the Pirates trailing by just two at 55-53 with 4:53 remaining in opening-night action at Belle High School (BHS).

Exploding for a 22-4 run the rest of the game, Belle managed to hold off a game Chamois squad 77-57.

“It’s hard to beat anyone twice,” Schultz said. “Chamois came ready to play tonight and nearly had the lead on us in the fourth quarter. We were fortunate to get out of there with a win.”

Trailing 13-6 at the 2:32 mark of the first quarter, Belle ended the first eight minutes on an 11-3 with six points from Gehlert and three points from Willis helping the Tigers to a slim 17-16 advantage after one quarter.

Starting the second quarter on a 12-2 run, Belle pushed their lead into double digits at 11 by a score of 27-16 with 5:20 until halftime.

Both teams traded points the rest of the half with the Tigers entering halftime up 34-27 on the Pirates.

Gehlert had 13 first-half points to lead Belle while Chamois was led by Jaxon Wuelling with 11 first-half markers.

Leading 50-38 with 1:57 for the third quarter on a Gehlert bucket, Belle saw the Pirates go on a 9-5 run cutting their lead to 55-47 after three quarters.

Seeing Chamois add to that run with the first six points of the fourth quarter, Belle suddenly saw their one double-digit lead sliced to two points near the midway point of the final period.

A Stratman 3-point play with 4:44 left sparked Belle’s 22-4 game-ending run.

“To have a game against a great team like this Belle team that we did a couple weeks ago and to turn around off a back-to-back night come out and be within two with four minutes left says a lot about this group of young men,” Chamois head coach Parker Jett said.

Stratman led the Tigers and all scorers with 30 points, six rebounds and two assists.

Gehlert dropped in 22 points and eight rebounds while Wills added a double double with 15 points and 10 rebounds.

Elrod capped the Tiger scoring against Chamois with two points and seven rebounds.

Brayden Cotton led Chamois with 23 points and seven rebounds while Jaxon Wuelling followed closely behind Cotton with 20 points and seven rebounds of his own.

Kaden Wuelling finished with six points on a pair of first-quarter 3-pointers while Max McKague and Oliver Carter each added three points.

Levi Weed rounded out the Pirate scoring against Belle with two points on a pair of second-quarter free throws.

Jaxon Wuelling was Chamois’ selection to the Belle All-Tournament Team which was voted on by the coaches.