However, emotions ran a bit higher than usual, as Gleason's Dudley Sanders Memorial Gymnasium was filled to capacity for a special evening of basketball - the final home games to be played on the hallowed hardwood. The GHS basketball squads played host to visiting West Carroll, with the squads earning a split for their efforts.

Gleason was victorious in the evening's opener, as the Lady Bulldogs stormed to a 66-31 decision. In the evening's and the gym's finale, the GHS boys fell to the War Eagles, 68-43.

Still smarting from the overtime loss to the Huntingdon Fillies the Friday before, the Gleason Lady Bulldogs put forth the type of effort which originally garnered them state-wide acclaim. Gleason controlled the tempo, used a furious defensive effort and got hot shooting from senior Amy Suddath to take the win from West Carroll.

Suddath wasted little time in making an impact, drilling a 3-pointer just 20 seconds into the action for a quick 3-0 GHS lead. The long-range basket was not the last of the night for the third-generation Lady Dawg. Suddath went on to bury a quintet of shots from beyond the 3-point arch as part of her team-high 17 points on the night.

"Amy had a great shooting night," Gleason head coach Randy Frazier pointed out.

A free throw from West Carroll's April Gilliam broke the ice for the Lady War Eagles at the 6:01 mark.

The rest of the quarter belonged to the Lady Dawgs. The Gleason girls got another Suddath trey for an 8-1 lead with 4:41 to play in the quarter.

Jessica Murphy answered with a 16-footer for WCHS, but the Lady Dawgs ended the quarter with another 8-3 run. Murphy's hoop ended a 4:12 span without a field goal for the West Carroll girls.

Kayla Hudson, granddaughter of the gym's namesake, nailed a 3-pointer for GHS for an 11-3 Lady Dawg advantage.

Murphy knocked in a responding trey for the War Eagles, but Suddath added her third 3-pointer of the frame with 64 ticks left in the first quarter.

Hudson closed out scoring in the quarter with a penetration move and a 4-foot jumper just before the buzzer to give Gleason its' first double-digit lead at 16-6.

Murphy posted the first points of the second quarter with a 10-foot jumper at the 7:27 mark, but it would be a while before the West Carroll side of the scoreboard changed numbers. The Gleason defense held the Lady War Eagles for 5:39 seconds of the second quarter.

While the WCHS girls struggled on the offensive end, a trio of Gleason seniors posted points. Katie Spain scored on a stickback, followed by a 3-pointer from Ashley Wilson and Teaya Miller's layup to push the GHS lead to 23-8 with 4:09 remaining in the first half.

Gilliam again ended a West Carroll scoring drought, this time with a 10-foot jumper with 1:48 left in the second quarter. West Carroll added a Rachel Arnold baseline jumper to trim its deficit to 11 at 23-12.

The Lady Bulldogs ended the half with a Riley Auvenshine layup off an assist from Hudson to carry a 25-12 lead into the locker room.

In the third quarter, the Gleason defense again stymied the Lady War Eagles, holding them quiet for just over 4 minutes. Meanwhile, the GHS offense was pouring in the points thanks to more Suddath trifectas and wide open backdoor layups.

The Gleason lead reached 32 points, 47-15, on Wilson's fastbreak layup late in the third.

The score remained 47-15 heading into the fourth, and soon after Frazier began clearing his bench. The Lady Dawg substitutes kept the Gleason fans cheering, pushing the lead to its largest margin of 39 points, 64-25, on a pair of free throws by Jessica Hensley with 1:54 left to play.

When the clock showed only zeroes, Gleason earned a 66-31 victory over West Carroll.

In addition to Suddath's 17 points, Hudson finished with 9.

For WCHS, Murphy topped all scorers with 18 points.

In the nightcap, the War Eagles' athleticism was too much for the young Bulldogs to handle, resulting in a 68-43 win for West Carroll over Gleason.

In a battle in the paint, Bulldog Brandon Bailey pitched in 6 first-quarter points, but West Carroll had an answer in their 6-8 center Xavier Webb. Webb pitched in a dozen of his game-high 26 points to propel the War Eagles to a 21-6 lead after a quarter of action.

The Bulldogs posted the 4 of the first 6 points in the second stanza on an Ethan Lowrance layup with the assist by Adam Bennett and a Byron Fuqua 10-footer to cut the WCHS lead to 23-10 with 4:51 left in the half.

West Carroll then enjoyed a 9-0 run, before Bennett's trey cut the Gleason deficit back to 19 points at 32-13 in the final minute of the half.

West Carroll's Cameron Hunt sank a free throw for the final point of the half, and the War Eagles enjoyed a 33-13 advantage at the intermission.

Webb continued to dominate under the boards and above the rim with a slam to end scoring in the third with WC on top, 49-20.

Fuqua caught fire for Gleason in the fourth, finishing with a team-high 15 points in the Bulldog's 68-43 loss.

Girls

West Carroll (31) - Murphy 18, Gilliam 5, Anders 5, Arnold 3.

Gleason (66) - Suddath 17, Hudson 9, Wilson 7, Price 6, Green 6, Spain 4, Hensley 4, Auvenshine 4, Edenfield 4, Miller 2, Wiseman 2, Leach 1.

3-pointers: West Carroll - Murphy 3; Gleason - Suddath 5, Wilson, Hudson, Edenfield. Halftime - West Carroll 12, Gleason 25. Records: West Carroll 8-16, Gleason 21-3.

Boys

West Carroll (68) - Webb 26, J. Taylor 13, Johnson 9, Hunt 6, Carter 4, Skinner 3, K. Taylor 2, Thomas 2, Stewart 2, Parker 1.

Gleason (43) - Fuqua 15, Bailey 14, Bennett 9, Taylor 3, Lowrance 2.

3-pointers: West Carroll - J. Taylor, Johnson, Skinner; Gleason - Bennett 2, Taylor, Fuqua. Halftime - West Carroll 33, Gleason 13.