Basketball Recap: Central McLean [Turtle Lake-Mercer/Underwood/McClusky] Comes Up Short

Despite a phenomenal run in the regular season, Central McLean [Turtle Lake-Mercer/Underwood/McClusky] couldn't carry that success into this playoff game. They lost 60-36 to the Westhope/Newburg Sioux on Saturday. The Cougars have been going strong on the season, but this is now their second defeat in a row.

Walker Braaten was his usual excellent self, going 9-for-19 to rack up 23 points and five boards for Westhope/Newburg. Braaten's big performance that evening made it four games in a row in which he has scored at least 15 points. Dayton Hawkins was another key player, shooting 56% from the field en route to 13 points.

Central McLean [Turtle Lake-Mercer/Underwood/McClusky]'s loss dropped their record down to 19-6. As for Westhope/Newburg, they are on a roll lately: they've won 17 of their last 19 matchups. That's provided a nice bump to their 22-4 record this season.

As of now, neither Central McLean [Turtle Lake-Mercer/Underwood/McClusky] nor Westhope/Newburg have any future games scheduled.