The top-seeded Harrisburg boys and Cairo girls both lived up to their hype and proved to be the best teams by far at this year’s Glasgow Invitational Tournament.
Neither of Saturday’s championship games were even close as the Bulldogs and Bearcats both claimed titles in one-sided fashion. Winning the Glasgow Tournament for the first time since 2008, the Harrisburg boys grabbed a big lead early and never looked back as they rolled past Westran, 78-64. Just 90 minutes earlier, the girls’ championship game followed the same script when Cairo’s girls were also winners against the other Westran squad, defeating the Hornets, 70-53.
Well-Rounded Team
Harrisburg showed their strength in a variety of ways Saturday while holding the upper hand at both ends of the floor. First their defense proved to be superior as they suffocated the Westran offense in the early going to claim a 14-2 lead just minutes into the action. The Bulldogs led 21-7 after one period before putting their foot on the pedal during the second quarter and scoring 26 points in that stanza to lead 47-24 at intermission.
From there it was merely a matter of running out the clock in the second half as the lead fluctuated between 14 and 24 points throughout the final two quarters. To their credit, Westran did come alive offensively down the stretch to stay reasonably close at the end as they lost to Harrisburg, 78-64.
Now 3-0 for the year, the Bulldogs had four men in double figures. Trace Combs scored 23 points to pace them with Bryce Ott adding 20, Sam Katsaros tallying 14 and Caleb Sager tossing in 10 for the winners. Falling to 3-1 on the season, Westran benefited from 19 points by Cruz Haynes while Jordan Black scored 13.
Repeat Winners
In the girls’ title contest, the Cairo Bearcats won the Glasgow championship for the fourth year in a row and the seventh time in the last eight seasons as they ran past Westran.
Cairo held a commanding 20-2 lead after one quarter and was never threatened after that as they were on top, 38-18 at the break before coasting to their 70-53 victory. The 3-0 Bearcats also showed great balance with four players in double figures. Mallori Hankins mustered 19 points for them with Olivia Cross contributing 16 while Macie Harman and Avery Brumley both scored 13.
Dropping to 3-2 on the year, Westran received 20 points from Emma Wortmann.
Other Results
The day of basketball at Glasgow lasted over nine and a half hours as it began at 12 noon.
In scores of the third place games Saturday, Cairo pulled away late to defeat the Slater boys, 60-47 which came right after Harrisburg’s Bulldogs held off Fayette, 47-41 in the girls’ matchup. Kicking off the marathon of basketball, Lilly Chitwood fired home 30 points as New Franklin overwhelmed Glasgow in every facet of the game to double up the Yellowjackets, 64-32 in the girls’ consolation contest. That preceded the come-from behind win which the Glasgow boys enjoyed as they trailed New Franklin 17-7 during the first period before recovering in time to stop the Bulldogs, 58-54 to earn those consolation honors.