A packed gym at Twin Cedars High School was on hand Tuesday night to watch a pair of closely-contested Bluegrass Conference games between Marion County Rivals Twin Cedars and Melcher-Dallas for the two schools’ collaborative Coaches vs. Cancer games.

The Saber girls held off a hard-charging Saints squad in the fourth quarter to claim a 47-39 win, as Alee Hugen’s 18-point, 19-rebound performance for Twin Cedars helped the host team notch the win. Payton Fee’s four 3-pointers – on her way to a 14-point night – also went a long way for the Sabers, who improve to 16-5 on the season and 6-2 in the Bluegrass Conference.

The Melcher-Dallas girls boasted a balanced scoring attack that saw eight players put marks in the scoring column, led by Amanda Marlin’s 9 points. Delaney Jensen was also impressive with 6 points, 11 rebounds and 7 assists. The loss drops the Saints to a game back of Twin Cedars in the Bluegrass Conference at 5-3, and puts them at 9-12 to end the regular season.

Both squads will regroup and do it all over again on Thursday night, as Twin Cedars will again be the host site for the two teams’ first round Regional Tournament match-up.

The boys’ game was another slug-fest between the two rivals, as the lead exchanged hands several times and never grew to more than five points – which was the final margin – as Twin Cedars came back for a 59-54 win. The Sabers’ “twin towers” – Dylan and Derek Springer – scored 16 and 12 points, respectively, to provide a strong post presence for Twin Cedars; and guard Otis Roby added 16 points as well. With the win, Twin Cedars is 10-12 overall and 5-3 in the Bluegrass Conference. They’ll host Moravia on Monday.

Ross Dawson and Kenneth Waddle shouldered the load for the Saints, who led by one point at halftime and two points entering the fourth quarter before running out of gas down the stretch. Dawson finished with a game-high 26 points and 11 rebounds, and Waddle scored 16. Melcher-Dallas is now 4-15 overall and 2-6 in league play. They’ll face Wayne in non-conference play on Friday.

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