SPRINGVILLE - It's not often two teams will play each other four times in a season, but that was the case Wednesday evening as Montrose and Elk Lake squared off for the fourth time. The result was the same as the previous three, with Elk Lake winning 58-43.

Sophomore Jai Herman opened the scoring by draining a three a minute into the game to put the Meteors up 3-0.

The Warriors tallied the next seven points, with Brayden Miller scoring the first four on a pair of buckets. Chase Pond buried his first of six three pointers to put them up 7-3 with 3:04 to go in the first.

Jack Russel scored five consecutive points, first knocking down a three off an assist from Herman, then hitting a tough floater in the lane.

The Warriors held the ball for the final 45 seconds of the quarter, setting up for the final shot of the stanza. 

With five seconds left Pond started to drive, stepped back and buried a three. Putting the Warriors up 10-8 after one.

The Warriors scored first to open the second as Logan Ayotte found fellow senior Noah Gesford open for three, Kendel Jones added a bucket to make it 15-8.

Herman put the Meteors on the board with a nice finish, before Miller collected an offensive rebound and put it back, 17-10 Warriors with 4:30 to play in the half.

Hudson Aukema converted one of two from the line, Heitsman notched a bucket at the other end. Then with two minutes to play in the half Gesford finished an and one, making it 22-11.

A Herman free throw and a Russell bucket cut the lead to eight, Gesford snared one off the offensive glass and laid it in to get the lead back to 10.

With six seconds left in the half Lukas Cokely assisted fellow senior Russell on a three pointer. Heading into the locker room it was 24-17 Elk Lake.

Cokely got the second half scoring started with a bucket to cut the Warrior lead to five, Pond found Miller with a nice look on the other end to get the lead back to seven.

Evan McComb would notch a pair of free throws, Herman added another to make it 26-22, but that's as close as the Meteors would come to sniffing the lead.

Cokely made a bucket for the Meteors, sandwiched by Ayotte nailing one from behind the arc and converting an and one to put the Warriors on top 32-24 with 5:53 to play in the third.

Pond sank another one from downtown, then handed out an assist to Gesford as the Warrior lead swelled to 13.

McComb and Pond traded three pointers to make it 40-27, Montrose got buckets from McComb and Herman to cut the lead to single digits before the end of the period.

Russell cut the Warrior lead to seven with a pair of foul shots to start the fourth quarter. However Elk Lake closed the door answering with a 10-0 spurt.

Heitsman scored first with an athletic move and finish, Gesford assisted Pond on back to back triples. Pond then finished the run with a nice take to make it 50-33.

Cokely stop the bleeding with a nice take and finish in the lane, Pond and Gesford responded with a bucket apiece.

Herman scored the final eight points for Montrose, while Pond tallied the last four on the Warriors side to finish the fourth with 14 points.

Elk Lake defeats Montrose for the fourth time this season with a final score of 58-43, eliminating the Meteors from the playoffs.

For the Warriors the win avenges a playoff loss to the Meteors last year, Elk Lake coach John Warnero was happy for his team after the game offering these comments.

"Happy and proud of the guys for focusing on what we can control and only looking at what's in front of us. Whether that's practice, game, etc. We made it less about who we were playing and more about making them play us on our terms and controlling things on both ends. They have achieved a lot in this season and hit some milestones that they can share memories for life!"

Pond had a solid performance, leading all scorers with 26 points adding four boards, three assists and a pair of steals.

The sophomore knew the victory meant a lot to his team, "we played together, we played tough, just meant a lot to us because we lost to them in the first round last year. So we knew we had to get this one back and just prove ourselves."

Elk Lake has packed the stands for every game this season and their student section helps provide a great atmosphere, Pond admits it helps his team play. "We have a great student section, crowds always good, helps bring the energy."

Gesford recorded a double-double in is final home game, scoring 12 points and grabbing 10 rebounds. He also had four assists and a pair of steals.

Miller notched eight points and three boards. Ayotte scored six points, handed out five assists and collected three caroms.

Heitsman snared 10 rebounds and scored four points, Jones chipped in with two points.

The Meteors were paced offensively by Herman, who finished with 17 points, four rebounds and assist and a steal. 

Russell tallied a baker's dozen, while grabbing three rebounds and a pair of steals. Cokely and McComb each scored six points. 

Cokely added four boards, two steals and an assist, while McComb had four steals, three caroms and an assist. Aukema had three rebounds a block and a point.

Elk Lake will travel to Scranton to play Holy Cross Saturday in the semifinals.