North Clay Crowned Champion At Wayne City

WAYNE CITY -- North Clay (Louisville) High School claimed the championship of the Wayne City Holiday Boys Basketball Tournament Saturday.

The Cardinals handed Crab Orchard a 70-62 loss for the title. North Clay edged out to an 18-17 opening quarter lead as Tyson Jones scored seven points.

Crab Orchard then looked like it was on the way to victory with a 15-8 run to lead 32-26 at halftime.

But the Cardinals were far from out of the contest. North Clay came back with an 18-17 edge to pull within 49-44 going into the final period. Jones scored seven while Luke Fleener added six.

Then in the final quarter, defense kicked in to hold Crab Orchard to 13 points while the offense got online with 26 points to pull out the eight point win. Jones nailed two trifectas and two regular baskets for 10 points while Fleener put in six free throws.

Jones finished with 24 points while Fleener added 23. Also in double figures was Ian Bailey with 11 points.

In Friday's game, North Clay won over Cisne, 52-43 to reach the title contest.

The Cardinals edged out to a 14-13 opening quarter lead then had a 15-6 second period run. The two teams played about even in the second half with Cisne gaining a slight 24-23 edge.

Bailey tallied 16 points, connecting on three trifectas. Fleener added 13 and Lane Holkenbrink 10.

Third place in the tournament went to Cisne over Gallatin County, 50-42 while fifth place was taken by Wayne City over Red HIll (Bridgeport), 77-51. Webber Township (Bluford) finished seventh by beating Grayville, 54-35.

North Clay had three members named to the All-Tournament Team and those were Luke Fleneer, Tyson Jones and Lane Holkenbrink. Other team members were Keegan Peek and Hunter Throgmorton (Crab Orchard), Connor Brach and Jesse Milner (Cisne), Taj McKinney and Kaiden Taylor (Wayne City) and Camren Ray (Red Hill).

Wayne City Tournament

Championship Game

CRAB ORCHARD (62)

Throgmorton 2-2 -- 6, Powell 0-0 -- 0, Meyers 4-2 -- 10, Lakotiah 5-0 -- 13, Peek 11-2 -- 26, I. Dawes 2-0 -- 6, Roy 0-0 -- 0, Norris 0-1 -- 1, Rooker 0-0 -- 0. TOTALS 24 FG, 7 FT.

NORTH CLAY (70)

Fleener 6-10 -- 23, Holkenbrink 2-0 -- 4, Jones 9-2 -- 24, Bible 4-0 -- 8, Bailey 4-2 -- 11, Ballard 0-0 -- 0. TOTALS 25 FG, 14 FT.

Crab Orchard           17    15    17    13    --    62

North Clay                18      8    18    26    --    70

3-point FG -- Crab Orchard 7 (Lakotiah 3, Peek 2, I. Dawes 2), North Clay 6 (Jones 4, Fleener 1, Bailey 1).

Friday Game

CISNE (43)

Milner 3-0 -- 8, Hatcher 2-0 -- 6, Roberts 0-0 -- 0, Fatherling 4-3 -- 13, Brach 3-5 -- 11, Potter 2-0 -- 5, Martinez 0-0 -- 0. TOTALS 14 FG, 8 FT.

NORTH CLAY (52)

Fleener 4-4 -- 13, Holkenbrink 2-6 -- 10, Jones 2-0 -- 5, Bible 2-4 -- 8, Bailey 4-5 -- 16, Weidner 0-0 -- 0, Boose 0-0 -- 0. TOTALS 14 FG, 19 FT.

Cisne                13        6    9    15    --    43

NorthClay         14      15    5    18    --    52

3-point FG -- Cisne 7 (Milner 2, Hatcher 2, Fatherling 2, Potter 1), North Clay 5 (Bailey 3, Jones 1, Lu. Fleener 1).