Basketball Recap: Maddie Belan's Big Game Can't Quite Lead Elkins over Buckhannon-Upshur

Elkins was the 52-38 winner over Buckhannon-Upshur when they last played one another last Saturday, but their luck changed this time around. The Elkins Tigers fell just short of the Buckhannon-Upshur Buccaneers by a score of 45-42 on Tuesday. The Tigers have now taken an 'L' in back-to-back games.

Elkins' loss came despite a true team effort with many players turning in solid performances. Perhaps the best among them was Maddie Belan, who posted 17 points. That was a full 40.5% of Elkins' points, marking the fifth time in a row Belan has earned more than a third of the team's points. Madi Zirkle was another key player, putting up six points and three steals.

It was another big night for Alyssa Abel, who dropped a double-double with 27 points and 15 boards for Buckhannon-Upshur. Abel's big performance that evening made it seven games in a row in which she has scored at least 15 points. Another player making a difference was Brooklyn Smith, who put up six points and three steals.

Elkins' defeat dropped their record down to 12-10. As for Buckhannon-Upshur, their win ended a four-game drought on the road and puts them at 9-13.

Elkins has already played their next match (against Fairmont Senior), but no score has been uploaded at the time of writing. Buckhannon-Upshur also has no score uploaded for their next contest, this one against John Marshall.