LIVE COVERAGE: Vandalia Holiday Tournament

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Pana defeats Meridian 61-46

7:30 p.m. — Meridian would take a brief lead by two at the end of one quarter. However, they could never take the lead again against the Pana Panthers.

The Hawks led Pana 11-9 after the first buzzer. They would only follow up with eight additional points to fall behind the Panthers 27-19.

Ted Jones led the Hawks with eight points. He would be followed by Cam Dean with three and Jonas Henderson and Bryce Brown with two apiece.

Cash Lynch led Pana’s scoring with 16, followed by Madyx Angel and Jax Cziakowski with two each.

Pana surged ahead with as high as a 23-point lead in the third quarter. A 20-12 drive by the Hawks would the Panthers’ lead down to 15 in the fourth quarter.

Lynch was atop the Panthers’ score line with 23. Angel followed up with 16 and Easton Malisia with six. Malisia secured four rebounds, followed by Lynch and Cziakowski (5 each).

Jones finished the Hawks score line with 18, followed by Bryce Brown (14) and Carter Miller (5). Brown led the squad in rebounds with 11, followed by Henderson, Jones, and Dean with two.

Pana advances to 2-1 and will face Vandalia Monday night at 7 p.m.

Meridian falls to 0-3 and will face Flora Monday at 4 p.m.

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Greenville asserts dominaance in 10-point win over Flora

5:45 p.m. — Greenville was leading by nine at halftime. Despite a tumultuous second half, they were able to hold their own against Flora.

17 points in the half were secured for the Comets by Christian Swalley (8), Addyn Grant (5), and Austin Swalley (4).

Kehlin Crawford secured seven of 17 points in the half for Flora. He would be followed by Gage Dugan and Isham Lusk securing two each.

A tumultuous second half saw Flora take charge with a 12-8 run in their favor. That drive would bring the game within five points. However, costly mistakes on both sides of the court by Flora allowed Greenville to take the final quarter 17-12. That would secure the Comets’ 51-41 victory and continued action to remain alive for the tournament title.

Christian Swalley led Greenville’s final score line with 18 points. He was followed by Grant with eight, and Taevon Petty and Paxton Ackerman securing seven each. Isaiah Matthews led rebounding with eight, followed by Austin Swalley with six and Petty and Ceagan Slater each tallying three.

Crawford finished Flora’s score line with 14, followed by Dogan with 10 and Dulaney Bullard with four. Crawford and Bullard combined for 12 rebounds, followed by Lusk with four.

Greenville will face off against Toledo Cumberland Monday at 5:30 p.m. to determine the the championship and third place games.

Flora will face either Macon Meridian or Nokomis Monday at 4 p.m. to determine the fifth and seventh place games.

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Cumberland likely to play for Vandalia Tourney title pending Monday game outcome

3 p.m. — Toledo Cumberland remains undefeated following a win against Pana 56-44 in the closing game of the morning session.

Cumberland led Pana by only seven points at the half, 31-24.

Cumberland’s Cameron Roedl led scoring in the first half with 11, followed by Reed Miller and Kaleb Bierman, each with four.

Cash Lynch led Pana’s scoring with 24 points. Easton Malisia and Jax Cziakowski rounded out Pana’s scoring with nine and three respectively.

The Pirates’ lead expanded to ten, following a 17-15 scoring run in the third quarter. That would expand to a 12-point margin at the final buzzer following a 11-9 fourth quarter.

Miller led the Pirates’ scoring with 19, followed by and Isaac Venatta with 11 each. Zack Harmon led rebounding with seven, followed by Roedl with five and Bierman with four.

Lynch ended Pana’s scoring with 20, followed by Malisia with 16, and Cziakowski with six.

Cumberland finishes pool play 3-0 and will play Greenville Monday at 5:30 p.m. Pana, at 1-1, plays again tonight at 6 p.m. against Macon Meridian.

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Vandalia win in overtime showdown with Flora

1:30 p.m. — The Pana Panthers and Toledo Cumberland Pirates had to wait a little bit longer, as the Vandalia Vandals and the Flora Wolves had to go to overtime.

Flora showed early dominance in the first half, leading Vandalia 13-8 and 17-14 in the first two quarters.

The high-energy of Lucas Bowers, Andrew Casey, and Carter Robbins helped propel the Vandals to 18-13 and 17-14 turnarounds in the final two quarters to move on to overtime at 57 apiece.

Four-minute overtime periods can pass faster than you think, as only 11 points were scored between the two teams. Vandalia’s seven points was enough to secure the overtime victory 64-61 and remain undefeated at 2-0.

Bowers led Vandalia’s scoring with 24 points, followed by Casey with 13 and Robbins with 10. Casey led the team with 14 rebounds, followed by Padric McDowell with four and Stombaugh and Bowers each with three.

Parker Helm led scoring for Flora with 15 points, followed by Isham Lusk with 14 and Noah Hatcher with 10. Kehlin Crawford led rebounding with seven, followed by Helm and Kyler Dennis with six each.

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Shelbyville earns hard fought win, keeping tourney hopes alive

11:45 a.m. — After two hard losses in the tournament, Shelbyville fought to the end to earn a win against Macon Meridian, 59-53.

The Rams and Hawks were deadlocked at 9-9 after the first quarter, with Shelbyville taking the lead with a 16-10 run to lead by six points at the half.

Owen Beyers led the Rams in scoring at the half with 12 points, followed by Brady Brinkoetter with six and Ezra McConnell with four.

On the Meridian side, Trenton Dowdy led scoring with seven points, followed by Ted Jones and Bryce Brown, both with five.

Meridian added 19 points to take the lead by two at the end of the third quarter, 38-36.

Shelbyville turned on the afterburners in the final quarter, scoring 23 to secure a 59-53 victory over the Hawks. Meridian would add 15 to their scoreline.

Beyers led Shelbyville’s scoring with 23 points, followed by Karson Bruns with nine and McConnell and Brinkoetter, both with eight each. Brinkoetter led rebounding with seven, followed by Beyers and Ayson Fischer with four apiece.

Meridian’s Brown finished with 19 points, followed by Jones with 14 and Dowdy with seven.

Shelbyville’s final placement with a 1-2 record will depend on how Toledo Cumberland, Meridian, and Pana play on Saturday. Meridian, now 0-2 in pool action, plays Pana at 6 p.m.

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Flora opens tournament with dominant win over Nokomis

10 p.m. — Flora’s first appearance in the tournament ended with a win Friday night in the final game of the evening.

Flora scored 15 points to Nokomis’ 9 in the first quarter, then added 12 in the second to Nokomis’ nine to make it a 12-point margin going into the half.

Blain Goodwin, Konnor Reynolds, and Luke Eisenbarth lead Nokomis’ scoring at three apiece. Parker Helm leads the Wolves’ scoring with nine points, followed by Kyler Dennis and Isham Lusk, each with five points.

Flora continued forward with a 20-13 run in the third quarter, extending the lead to 47-28.

The Redskins took advantage of some turnovers in the fourth for a 12-11 turnaround, but it wasn’t enough as the Redskins falls to 0-2 in pool play. Flora has two games Saturday: at 11:30 vs. Vandalia and at 4:30 vs. Greenville.

Helm led the Wolves with 18 points, followed by Kehlin Crawford with 12 and Dennis with nine.

Carter Wexstten and Goodwin led Nokomis’ scoring with eight points apiece, followed by Glavin Himes with six and Reynolds with five.

Nokomis’ final game in pool action is at 7:30 p.m. Saturday.

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Cumberland remains undefeated with win over Shelbyville

7 p.m. — Toledo Cumberland currently leads at the half against Shelbyville 29-23.

A strong second quarter by Shelbyville has been able to keep the Rams within six of the Pirates.

A foul by Cumberland on Shelbyville’s Gabe Georges left him on the floor for a few minutes, but he was able to walk off the floor to applause. It is not known if he’ll be in action tonight.

Following that foul, it led to a 7-3 swing that resulted in the Rams being close behind the Pirates up to the half.

Cumberland’s Chase Stewart led scoring in the half with 12, followed by Cameron Roedl and Isaac Venatta with six apiece.

Ezra McConnell led Shelbyville’s scoring with seven points, followed by Owen Beyers and Karson Bruns, each with five.

Trainers have been working with Georges courtside since the half.

Cumberland capitalized further with a 18-6 run in the third and 15-11 in the fourth to remain undefeated with a 62-40 win.

Cumberland’s Stewart finished the game 18 points, followed by Roedl with 16 and Venatta with 11. Zack Hamon led rebounding with six, followed by Roedl with four and Kaleb Bierman with three.

McConnell topped Shelbyville’s scoring with 13, followed by Bruns with eight and Beyers with seven. Beyers led rebounding with eight, followed by Brady Brinkoetter with five and McConnell with four.

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Vandalia upsets defending champion Greenville

5:30 p.m. — For now, the Vandalia Vandals have toppled Greenville.

In Vandalia’s first action on the day, the host held the defending tournament champion Comets to three points in the opening quarter.

They would expand that lead to 12 following a 21-12 drive to push Vandalia further at the half, 39-27.

Andrew Casey led scoring for the Vandals with 17, followed by Lucas Bowers with 13 and Qwentyn Stombaugh and Padric McDowell each with two.

Christian Swalley led Greenville’s scoring with 12 points, followed by Austin Swalley with seven and Taevon Petty with four.

The Vandals would increase that lead further to 18 with a 16-10 run in the third quarter, including two free throw after the end of the quarter.

A bright spot came in the final frame as Greenville took advantage of some costly errors on the Vandals side. While they were able to outscore Vandalia 15-12, it was not enough to overcome a 15-point deficit at the end of regulation. The final score was 67-52.

Vandalia’s scoring primarily came from Casey (28), Bowers (17), and Carter Robbins (16). Bowers led the team’s rebounding with nine, followed by Casey’s seven and Robbins’ four.

The Swalleys combined for 30 points (Christian 21, Austin 9) for Greenville, followed by Griffin Prater with 8. Taevon Petty led rebounding with four, followed by Christian Swalley, Cannon Hamel, and Bauer Ackerman with three each.

Vandalia finishes the first day 1-0 in pool play, while Greenville falls to 1-1. Both teams finish up pool play Saturday against Flora.

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Pana dominates Shelbyville in final game of AM session

3:45 p.m. — The final game of the morning session would see a faceoff of Route 16 rivals in the Pana Panthers of the South Central Conference and the Shelbyville Rams of the Central Illinois Conference.

Pana pulled out to an early 22-11 lead in the opening quarter, further expanding that lead with a 15-11 performance to close out the first half 37-22.

Pana’s Cash Lynch led scoring in the first half with 17, followed by Brayden Hicks with nine, and Madyn Angel with seven. For the Rams, Karson Bruns and Gabe Georges led the team with five points apiece, followed by Owen Beyes with four.

The Panthers didn’t relent much in the second half, outscoring Shelbyville 12-8 and 15-11 in the final two quarters to secure a 64-41 victory.

Lynch finished the game with 24 points, followed by Angel with 13, and Hicks with nine. Easton Malisia led the rebounds line for Pana with seven, followed by Angel and Lynch with five each.

Bruns finished out Shelbyville’s scoring with 14, followed by Beyers and Georges with 11 each. George had ten rebounds in the loss followed by Bruns with seven and Brady Clark with four.

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Greenville ekes out last-minute victory over Nokomis

1:00 p.m. — Nokomis’ opening to the Holiday Tournament suffered a heartbreaking loss in the final two minutes of the game.

The Redskins set off to a 14-9 start against the Greenville Comets in the first quarter. Effective defense from both squads limited scoring to 13 points, 7-6 in favor of Nokomis. Nokomis would lead going into the half 21-15.

Greenville’s Payton Ackerman led their squad’s scoring with nine points, followed by Christian Swalley with three and Taevon Petty with two. On the Nokomis side, Kadynn Petty led the Redskins with six points, followed by Carter Wexssten with five and Kannon Jonas with three.

12 points were scored between the teams in the third quarter, 7-5 in favor of Greenville, with Nokomis leading by four points, 26-22.

A 15-10 showing in the final frame, led the Comets ekeing out a one-point victory over Nokomis, 37-36.

Ackerman finished the game with 15 points, followed by Swalley with 12 and Taevon Petty’s five. Austin Swalley led rebounding for Cumberland with five, followed by Isaiah Matthews with four and Christian Swalley and Paxton Ackerman each with three.

Wexssten finished on the Nokomis side with 12, followed by Kadynn Petty with six, and Luke Eisenbarth with five. Wexssten, Konnor Reynolds, and Glavine Hines led rebounding with four apiece.

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Toledo Cumberland dominates tournament opener vs. Macon Meridian

11:00 a.m. — The Macon Meridian Hawks kicked off action at the Vandalia Holiday Tournament Friday as they tipped off against the Pirates of Toledo Cumberland.

Cumberland had a dominant showing in the first half, with Isaac Venatta leading scoring with 16 points. Meridian put 17 points on the board in the half, led by Bryce Brown’s seven points. Meridian was down at the half, 34-17.

The Hawks attempted to battle back with some early scoring in the third quarter, but the effective squad of the top-seeded Pirates proved to be too much, holding the Hawks to ten additional points in the third compared to 20 from Cumberland.

There was little scoring in the fourth quarter with an 8-7 margin, with the Pirates winning the opening game 62-34.

Venatta led the Pirates scoring with 20 points, followed by Reed Miller with 14, and Cameron Roedl with 10. Venatta also led rebounding with seven, Zack Harmon with five, and Roedl and Miller each with four.

Brown led Meridian’s scoring with 13, followed by Ted Jones with 10, and Carter Miller with five. Brown and Jones were the rebounding leaders for Meridian with five each, followed by Kolton Horn, Miller, and Trenton Dowdy, each with two.