KINGDOM CITY - North Callaway junior guard Khobi Kellerman produced 15 points to help direct the Thunderbirds to a 54-44 Eastern Missouri Conference victory over the Clopton Hawks on Friday night.
North Callaway (8-8, 3-2 EMO) opened up an 18-11 edge after one quarter and carried a 29-23 lead into halftime. Clopton outscored the Thunderbirds 13-9 in the third quarter to cut its deficit to 38-36, but North Callaway locked down the win by outscoring the Hawks 16-8 in the fourth quarter.
Kellerman, who also grabbed a team-high five rebounds, was one of three players to reach double figures for the Thunderbirds. Senior guard Coy Danison tallied 13 points and junior guard Dawson Wright added 10.
"It was a good team win - we played good defense the entire game," North Callaway head coach Matt Miller said. "Clopton was able to catch us in the third quarter, but we put things together in the fourth quarter to win the game."
Landon Hall logged 15 of his game-high 17 points in the second half, including 11 in the third quarter, to pace the Hawks (5-10, 2-3).
The Thunderbirds (1-7) dropped the junior varsity game 40-30. Freshman center Tanner Taylor finished with a team-high 11 points.
North Callaway's JV plays Van-Far at 5:30 p.m. Monday in the first round of the Montgomery County Tournament. The game will be played in the high school gym.
The Thunderbirds' varsity is the No. 2 seed for this week's Bowling Green Tournament. North Callaway will turn around and face No. 7 seed Clopton again in the first round at 5:30 p.m. Tuesday in the middle school gym.