Bobcats and Canton Girls Crowned Palmyra Champs

Bobcats and Canton Girls

Crowned Palmyra Champs

By David Sharp

   Second seeded Bowling Green and second seeded Canton took home the first place trophies from the 65th Annual Tony Lenzini Tournament, held January 14-19 at Palmyra HS. The Bobcats (13-0) held off top seeded Palmyra (12-3) by a 54-51 margin in the boys’ championship contest.

   Jonathon Nutt drained a Palmyra three pointer at the buzzer, sending the boys’ title tilt to the fourth quarter tied at 37.  Bobcat post player Ben Hartung changed game momentum with a thundering slam-dunk with about four minutes remaining in the game.

   Second ranked in Class 3 Bowling Green led by six points in the closing moments when Palmyra sank a three pointer closing the final score to 54-51. The Panthers were an outstanding 21-26 from the free throw line. Bowling Green answered with six home run balls in the boys’ championship game.

   Jonathon Nutt and Ryne Brewer tossed in 11 Palmyra points each. Bowling Green all-stater Brandon McCann led all scorers with 15 boys’ championship game points. Senior Cody McCann tallied 11 Bobcat points.

   Third seeded Clark County bested five seed Canton in the boys’ third place game by a 62-53 margin. The Indians lost to Bowling Green 50-34 in the semi-finals. Clark County topped Mark Twain 61-43 in first round boys’ play.

   Fourth seeded and tenth ranked Highland blasted Monroe City 67-30 in the boys’ consolation championship game. Highland was awarded the tournament Sportsmanship trophy. Canton upended the Cougars 45-39 in the first round.

   State ranked Canton (14-2) came from the two seed and knocked off one seed Palmyra (10-5) by a 53-40 final score in the girls’ championship game.  Lindsey Lillard scored a game high 16 Lady Tiger points. Jessi Logsdon and Tori Niemann tossed in 15 Canton points each. Taylor Baxter led Palmyra with ten points.

   The top four Tony Lenzini Tournament girls’ seeds are or have been ranked in the state this season. Fifth seeded Clark County took the girls’ third place trophy with a 58-35 win over Highland. Clark County knocked off Bowling Green 59-37 in the first round. Palmyra edged the Lady Indians 30-29 in the semi-finals.

   Sixth seeded Highland upended three seed Mark Twain 44-40 in girls’ first round action. The third seeded Lady Tigers were without all conference post player Kaylyn Franke due to injury. Canton bested Highland 53-37 in the girls’ championship semi-final round. Bowling Green took the girls’ consolation championship by a 53-40 margin over Mark Twain.