The Willow Springs Bears competed this morning for the third day in a row at 9:30am to compete in Day 3 of the Blue & Gold tournament. After losing the first day, the Bears found themselves in the consolation round, where they trounced their opponents and won.
Today in the first half of the game against the Crane Pirates, the Willow Springs Bears managed to pull ahead and maintain a lead against their opponents. By the time half-time rolled around, the Bears were leading 38 to 32, with the Pirates managing to shorten the point gap down to only 6.
The third quarter saw both the Pirates and the Bears wearing down, the energy requirement from these daily games proving to fatigue the players. The Bears continued to maintain their lead, but both tired teams refused to back down, with points by the end being 50 to 45, favoring the Bears.
The last quarter of the game showed both sides truly wearing down as they got down to the wire. Lots of back and forth plays kept the point gap between the teams kept the lead difference at 4-6. The game had many slowdowns with several time-outs being called within the last 50 seconds. The Bears managed to hold their lead, however, which progressed into an eventual victory to the Bears, 71 to 67.
