Swept earlier in the week by Owensville in a Highway 28 basketball doubleheader, Belle’s Tigers and Lady Tigers looked to return the favor Friday night at home against Viburnum.

Celebrating their annual pink-out night, both teams were also looking to put a notch in the win column in Gasconade Valley Conference (GVC) play.

Taking the court first were Evin Farris’ Belle Lady Tigers against Viburnum’s Lady Blue Jays out of Iron County.

Holding a slim 14-9 lead after one quarter, Belle outscored Viburnum 37-17 over the next two quarters before going on to a 57-39 victory.

Led by 11 first-quarter points from Halle Smith, the Lady Tigers also got three points from Olivia Sanders helping them to a five-point lead after eight minutes of basketball.

Limiting Viburnum to two points in the second quarter, Belle put 22 on the board giving them a 36-11 halftime lead.

Adding to her 11 first-quarter points, Smith led Belle and all scorers with 23 first-half points.

Grace Busch and Sanders added five first-half points in addition to a second-quarter 3-pointer off the hands of Lauren Prigge.

In spite of being outscored 28-21 in the second half, Belle put their first notch in the GVC win column in addition to bouncing back from a 48-38 road loss at Linn last Tuesday night.

Finishing with a game-high 33 points, Smith bounced back nicely from being held to 12 points earlier in the week at Owensville.

Busch followed with seven points against Viburnum after posing a team-high 14 points in Belle’s Highway 28 showdown at Owensville.

Prigge finish with six points followed by five each out of Hali Naber and Sanders.

Faith Gieck added a fourth-quarter free throw for one point rounding out Belle’s scoring.

In a schedule change, the Lady Tigers will return to action tomorrow night (Thursday) hosting Calvary Lutheran’s Lady Lions beginning at 5:30 p.m.

That contest was originally scheduled for mid-December but was one of several Belle sporting events postponed due to winter weather.

Looking to complete the sweep, Tim Evans’ Belle Tigers took on the visiting Blue Jays from Viburnum.

Racing out to a 24-3 first-quarter lead, Belle had all the points they needed in the first eight minutes of their 71-22 victory.

Falling on the road at Bourbon a week earlier in their GVC opener, Evans’ Tigers also put their first notch under the win column in conference play.

Leading Belle in the first quarter against Viburnum was Jat Ridenhour and Lane Feeler each with seven points.

Brett Stewart added six first-quarter markers followed by two each from Colten Robinson and Eddy Paz.

Doubling up the Blue Jays 16-8 in the second quarter, Belle took a commanding 40-11 halftime lead.

Ridenhour led the Tigers and outscored Viburnum in the first half with 12 points. Feeler also reached double digits in the first half with 10 points.

Keeping the pedal on the gas offensively in the third quarter, the Tigers outscored the Blue Jays 21-8 to take a 61-19 lead into the fastest eight minutes of basketball via the 30-point mercy rule.

Robinson paced the Tigers opening the second half with nine third-quarter points.

Also winning the fourth quarter by a 10-3 margin, Belle put the finishing touches on their second victory in as many games.

Among four Tigers in double figures, Ridenhour finished with a game-high 18 points.

Robinson scored 10 of his 15 points in the second half along with 13 points from Stewart.

Rounding out Belle’s quartet of double-digit scorers was Feeler who scored all 10 of his points in the first half.

Shane Baumgartner added six points all in the second half to go along with five markers from Justin Lingo.

Paz rounded out the scoring for Belle against Viburnum with first and third-quarter buckets giving him a total of four points.

Three nights prior to their pink-out win over Viburnum, Belle hit the road to Stoutland to take on another species of Tiger.

Carrying a nine-game losing streak into their game with Stoutland last Tuesday, Belle snapped the skid before it reached double digits with a 55-52 road victory.

Playing against Calvary Lutheran Saturday in Jefferson City, Belle did not have quite enough offense falling 84-75 to the host Lions.

Belle’s Tigers will return to action Friday night facing another GVC foe in Cuba’s Wildcats with a 5:30 p.m., start time for junior varsity action.

Originally scheduled to perform at pink out, Belle’s little cheerleaders will perform their camp routine between the JV and varsity contests Friday night pitting Belle against Cuba.