Sterling defeats hugoton for it's 8th SIT Crown

​ Coming down to, literally, the last second, the Sterling Black Bears pulled out an exciting 53-52 win over the Hugoton Eagles in the championship game of the Sterling Invitational Basketball Tournament.
      The game was not only close on the scoreboard, but also throughout the stat sheet as well.  Both teams shot 41 percent from the field and 50 percent from the foul line. Both teams grabbled 26 rebounds and there were five ties and 4 lead changes.
      The final tie came at 52-all with on a turnaround jumper in the lane by Boston Ekart of Sterling with just 12 seconds left in the contest. Following a timeout by the Eagles with .08 on the clock, Hugoton turned the ball over to Sterling with 2.3 seconds left in the game.
      Coming out of the Black Bear timeout, with the ball in their backcourt, Sterling found Ekart in the deep corner, where he drove the baseline and was fouled with just 0.6 left in the game. The sophomore went to the line and hit his first free throw attempt.  A miss on his second attempt left Hugoton with only a full-court hail mary to win the game.

      Ekart and Carson Gray paced the Bears, 10-1, with 12 points each. Zane Farney and Gabe Riffel each grabbed seven rebounds. Hugoton, 7-2, was led by Emmett Gaskill with 16 points and Izeyah Harris with 12. Harris also grabbed a game-high eight rebounds.