McLouth KS,

The Hiawatha Redhawks took the floor in hopes to claiming a McLouth Invitational Championship on Saturday and extend their current 4 game winning streak to five. The fifth seeded Redhawks did just that, claiming the championship 72-53 over third seeded Cair Paravel.

On paper this game would seem as a tall task for the Redhawks as Cair Paravel would start five players six foot three inches or taller while Hiawatha has just one at six foot three in star forward Tyler Brockhoff. However the speed, athleticism and sharp shooting of the Redhawks would prove much larger than any size advantage on the floor. The two teams struggled to get quality shots in the first few minutes and Hiawatha saw an early 9-4 lead dissipate to a deficit of 12-11 with 3:20 left in the first quarter. Second year coach Gary Smith would call his second timeout of the game, and whatever was said from Smith resonated with his team. Following the timeout, Hiawatha would go on a scoring flurry retaking the lead for good on a 19-2 run to end the frame leading 30-14. That run would continue throughout the second quarter as the Redhawks closed out the first half on a 39-9 run from the 3:20 mark in the first quarter to lead at the half 50-21. The Redhawks would coast to victory in the second half leading 59-34 at the end of the third stanza and salt away the Lions in the fourth to claim the title by a 72-53 final score.

Hiawatha once again forced the issue defensively pressuring the ball at all times forcing 17 turnovers with 12 being steals paired with a stifling half-court zone defense. For the second straight game held their opponent well under their season average of points per game (CPLS averaged 70ppg). The Redhawks had many easy transition buckets, points in the paint and timely twelve footers, however a bulk of their scoring also came from behind the arc. Senior Sage Meyer hit five triples from deep, all in the first half, en route to his game high 26 point night to help keep the zone presence of Cair Paravel scrambling.

With the victory, Hiawatha (7-3) now rides a 5 game winning streak heading into the second half of the season with what seems to be a full head of steam. The Redhawks will hope to use this momentum into next Friday's game vs Horton before starting back up with league play on February 4th at Nemaha Central.

The Citizen's State Bank & Trust Company of Hiawatha's Player To Bank on went to Sage Meyer, who paced the 'Hawks in points with 26 and also provided on the defensive side drawing two charges.

In addition to claiming the tournament championship, Meyer and Brockhoff were named to the all tournament team with Brockhoff named the tournament Most Valuable Player.

HIAWATHA – S. Meyer 26, T. Brockhoff 15, M. Moreno 10, A. Coffelt 10, A. Lierz 4, M. Bryan 3, P. Winters 2, T. Kolb 2

CAIR PARAVEL – M. Will 18, N Hasert 13, H. Anderson 10, M. Djikandic 5, I. Stewart 4, P. Unruh 3

                           | 1Q| 2Q | 3Q | 4Q|  FINAL |

#3 Cair Paravel  | 14 | 07 |  13 | 19 |    53     |  

#5 Hiawatha       | 30 | 20 |  09 | 13 |    72     |