The HDC Tournament wrapped up play over the weekend in Jamesport.
The Mercer girls and Newtown-Harris boys brought home the tournament championships. The Lady Cardinals beat Newtown-Harris, 41-27. In the boys championship, the N-H boys outlasted Mercer, 65-64.
In other games played, the Ridgeway boys took third place by beating Tri-County, 81-58, and the Gilman City girls beat Tri-County, 38-27. The Grundy R-5 boys and girls also picked up wins on Friday as the boys won fifth place by beating Gilman City, 62-43, and the Lady Panthers finished ninth by beating North Daviess, 44-36.
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Championship
Early foul trouble sent Mercer’s Ben Stark to bench, but the Cardinals were able to keep Newtown-Harris’ high-scoring offense from getting too far ahead. Three times the N-H Tigers led by as many as 13 points, but each time Mercer was able to fight its way back into the game.
Newtown led by seven points with about 90 seconds to play in the fourth quarter. Mercer’s Tim Bomgardner hit a pair of three-pointers to keep the game close. Newtown-Harris converted 4-of-8 free throws in the fourth quarter, but hit just two of their last six from the charity stripe, allowing the Cardinals to stay in the ballgame.
Down three points, Mercer senior Jose Hernandez drove the lane and tried to get fouled as time expired, but came up with only a two-point basket. Mercer led the game 17-14 at the end of the first quarter. The Tigers held a five-point lead at the half, 33-28.
The Tigers had expanded their lead to nine points heading into the fourth quarter, 55-46. N-H had four players score 10 or more points. Canaan Fairly and Brandon Coin led the way with 16 points each. K.J. Cool had 13 points and Andy Busick added 11 points.
North Mercer’s Austin Hague scored 10 first-quarter points and led all scorers with 24 points for the game. Bomgardner hit six three-pointers and finished the game with 20 points. Hernandez added 15 points for the Cardinals.
The girls’ championship got off to a very slow start as Newtown-Harris led Mercer after one quarter of play 6-5. The Lady Tigers led at halftime, 17-13. In the second half, however, the Lady Tigers could not buy a basket.
The Lady Cardinals outscored Newtown 14-3 in the third quarter and 14-7 in the fourth quarter. N-H was able to hold Mercer’s standout guard Toni Brundage to just four free throws.
Sarah Hernandez and Brittany Eakes led Mercer with 12 points each. Jessica Coon added 10 points for the Lady Cardinals.
Heather Simpson led N-H with eight points. Jessica Huffman added seven points.
Third-Place Games
Ridgeway led the third-place game at halftime 45-32, then outscored Tri-County in the final two periods, 36-26.
David Claycomb led Ridgeway with 19 points.
The Mustangs were paced by Lance Huston with 17 points and Gib Wray with 11 points.
The Tri-County girls led by four points after the first quarter, 12-8. At halftime, the Lady Mustangs led 14-9. Gilman City got things on track in the second half, scoring 12 in the third quarter and 17 in the fourth quarter to win the third-place game.
Monica Wilson scored 13 of her 17 points in the fourth quarter to lead Gilman City. Randee Prindle returned from illness to add eight points for the Lady Hawks.
Bailey Huston led Tri-County with nine points.
Other Games
The Grundy R-5 boys, behind 35 points by Kyle Larson, beat Gilman City by 19 points on Friday night. The Panthers led 28-15 at halftime and then outscored the Hawks by eight points in the second half.
Larson finished with a game-high 35 points, six rebounds and five steals. Logan Jackson had 11 points, nine rebounds and six assists. Colby Searcy had 12 points and six steals.
Blake Johnson led Gilman City with 20 points.
The Grundy R-5 girls won their second game of the year on Friday, beating North Daviess by eight points. The difference in the game came in the third quarter, where the Lady Panthers outscored North Daviess, 14-4.
Heather Vivone led Grundy R-5 with 16 points, 11 rebounds and five steals. Paige Ryals had 16 points and eight steals. Kala Smith rounded out Grundy R-5’s double-digit scoring with 10 points, 13 rebounds and four assists.
The Grundy R-5 boys and girls host Tri-County on Tuesday night. The Mercer teams host Gilman City, also on Tuesday. The Newtown-Harris girls host North Daviess on Friday and the boys travel to Ridgeway on Feb. 20.