EPC Warriors Ky Madden (left) and Brett Hardin guard a Manila player last Tuesday night in the first round of the 3A-3 district tournament in Corning. (Tribune phoso/Trent Fletcher) [Click to enlarge]

Democrat Sports Staff

EPC not only punched their ticket to the 3A Region 3 Tournament at Marmaduke this week with their play during last week's district tourney at Corning, they very nearly came away with the district crown, challenging Hoxie in the tournament final on Friday.

However, the surging Warriors would come up just short against the conference-leading Mustangs, falling 63-58.

Hoxie held on at the line, sinking seven of 10 free throws in the final 1:17.The two teams scraped and clawed all game long, with neither team ever holding a double figure advantage.

Hoxie led at each quarter break: 17-14; 24-23 and 42-34.

Facing their largest deficit of the night at the start of the final frame, EPC rattled off six seven unanswered points to bring themselves back into the hunt. In a span of less than 30 seconds, Brett Hardin scored on a drive, freshman phenom Ky Madden connected on a pair of free throws and Troy Hull buried a three pointer from the left corner to bring the Warriors within a single point, 42-41.

Much as they did the entire night, though, Hoxie had an answer, as Cade Crisler hit a three from the right corner to push the lead back to four.

"I thought both teams came out tonight and played very hard," Warrior coach Josh Hill said. "It was a struggle on both ends of the court for the entire game. I thought we gave a good effort. Hoxie threatened to go on a couple of runs and move out to a big lead, but we never gave up and were able to get right back into it each time."

Madden finished with a game-high 27 points for the Warriors. Chris Davis notched 10 in the loss. Other scorers were Hardin 9, Hull 9 and Mike Medina 3.

Ray Volner lead Hoxie with 14. Beau Sisco added 13 and Tanner Jarret scored 10 for the Mustangs.

Much of EPC's success in the tournament came on the outstanding play of Madden. The 6'3" freshman provided an offensive punch for the Warriors.

"Ky gives us more options on offense," Hill said. "He's a great athlete and he makes us better all the way around."

Win over Maramaduke

EPC advanced to the finals with an 87-78 win over Marmaduke on Thursday.

Madden led the Warriors with 32 in the victory. Davis added 22 and Hardin notched 14 points. Also scoring for EPC were Bucky Chamberlain 8, Hull 8 and Mark Medina 3.

EPC claimed the victory despite an outstanding performance by Marmaduke's Jacob Mason. Mason finished with a career-best 43 points. Chris Foresythe added 25 points.

The Warriors led throughout: 25-21; 47-42 and 61-54.

EPC tops Corning

Hull gave the Warriors a momentum boost heading into the final frame in the Warriors' second round meeting with Corning Wednesday, nailing a three at the buzzer to push EPC ahead 46-43 at the end of the third. The Warriors held on for a 60-54 win.

Madden finished with a game-high 20 to lead the Warriors. Davis finished with 15 points. Hull notched 17 in the win. Hardin and Chamberlain added seven and four, respectively for EPC.

Zack Brown led Corning with 19.

The Warriors led throughout the close contest: 17-16; 35-33 and 46-43.

First round win

Hull pumped in 23 points while Madden added 21 more to lead EPC to a thrilling 75-70 come from behind victory over Manila last Tuesday night in the first round of the district tournament.

Manila rallied from a 17-14 first period deficit to outscore the Warriors 27-15 in the second quarter, taking a 41-32 lead into the dressing room.

The rally was instigated by the outside shooting Manila's Chad Nunnally, who knocked down back-to-back three pointers midway through the period to stretch a three point lead to seven, 32-25, with 3:20 left in the half.

Hull's three point play at the 1:18 mark pulled EPC to within 34-30, but the Lions outscored the Warriors 7-2 the rest of the way, aided by a three pointer from Trey McCormick and an offensive stick-back at the halftime buzzer by senior Ross Malloy to give the Lions a nine point lead.

Manila began the third period with a three point play from Nunnally to go ahead 44-32. Following a Davis basket for EPC, Nunnally struck again with an offensive stick-back and a pair of free throws to give the Lions their largest lead of the night, 48-34, at the 5:50 mark.

After an EPC time out, the Warriors began their comeback as Hull drained a trey from the left corner before Davis scored a three point play of his own, cutting the Lion lead to 48-41 with 4:11 left in the third period. EPC whittled the Lion lead down to just one, 53-52, on back-to-back baskets by Chamberlin with only 34 seconds to go in the period. Blake Wheeler's 15-footer at the 18 second mark gave Manila a 55-52 edge heading into the final period.

Malloy pushed the Manila lead to five with a 17-footer to begin the fourth quarter. After the two teams swapped three pointers, the Warriors pulled to within 60-59 on a free throw by Hull and a trey from Madden with 6:40 to play. EPC grabbed the lead for good with 5:37 left when Hull hit from beyond the three point arc again, giving the Warriors a 62-60 edge.

EPC built their lead to 68-60 with three straight lay-ups, but Manila made one final charge and closed to within 72-70 when McCormick drilled a three pointer with only 30 seconds left in the game. The Lions were forced to foul and sent senior Brett Hardin to the line where he calmly sank both free throws to give the Warriors a 74-70 lead with 18.9 seconds left. A Lion turnover gave the Warriors the ball back, and Davis sealed the game with another free throw to set the final margin at 75-70.

"It was a tale of two halves," said Hill. "Manila played extremely well and shot the ball better than most people thought they would. Their post players were stepping out and knocking down shots and we weren't ready for that. I thought Troy Hull played extremely well and Ky Madden played great for a freshman in his first game on the senior high level. I'm very proud of the whole team."

EPC placed four players in double figures, led by Hull and Madden. Chamberlin scored 12 while Davis added 11. Hardin finished with six points while Mike Medina netted two. The Warriors connected on 20-29 foul shots and drilled seven three pointers on the night.

The Lions also had four players hit double digits, led by Nunnally, who finished with 20. Wheeler16, Malloy 15 and McCormick with a 13 point effort.

The Warriors advance to the 3A Region 3 Tournament at Marmaduke. They are slated to face Cotter at 5:30 p.m. Thursday.