The Allen Men's Basketball team won the first round of the Region VI Tournament with a 87-73 win over the Labette Cardinals. The Red Devils did not come out ready to play, as the Cardinals jumped out to a quick 6-2 lead. Allen was very passive with the basketball and Labette's pressure caused Allen a lot of problems in the first half. Allen has been one of the better teams in the conference at taking care of the basketball, but in the first half the Red Devils had 12 turnovers. Allen's sloppy ball control led to several easy chances for Labette. Several times Allen pushed the lead up to 8 or 9 points, but Labette always had the answer in the first half. Allen would lead 35-28 at the break.

In the second half a couple quick baskets from the Red Devils pushed the lead up to double digits, but Labette would turn on the offense in the second half, and the two teams traded baskets for the majority of the half. Allen struggled keeping Labette in front and when the Cardinals missed a shot they always seemed to be right there for the offensive rebounds. Fortunately down the stretch Ed Wright was able to knock down a corner 3 pointer, then followed that up with a couple of free-throws to extend the Red Devil lead to double figures. Allen would hang on for  86-73 win, as the Red Devils won all 3 matchups with the Cardinals this season.

Ed Wright led the way in scoring with 29 points on 10-19 from the floor, and 3-4 from the 3 point line. Chris Dixon continued his solid play with 13 points on 4-7 from the floor, and 4-4 from the free-throw line. Nick Whittick was the only other Red Devil in double figures with 10 points.

Allen advances to the semi-final of the Region VI Tournament for a matchup with the Neosho Panthers on Wednesday night at 7:00 pm in Iola. The Red Devils swept the Panthers in the regular season games. Allen is now 25-5 overall on the season.