The Guthrie Freshman boys basketball team got a little bit of revenge on mid-day Saturday and in the process won the Mount Saint Mary’s Tournament.
The Jays were staged by Reed Roberts 18 points and 12 rebounds in a 66-50 championship win over the Shawnee Wolves, who just eight days previously handed the Jays a 66-42 loss. Guthrie also picked up tournament wins over Heritage Hall and Jones and are now 5-3 on the season.
“The games against Heritage Hall and Jones helped our morale because we were on a three game losing streak,” first year head coach Londaryl Perry said. “It also gave us the confidence that we needed going into the championship against Shawnee.”
The Jays were playing without Jacob Chappell, who is battling the flu, but did receive some added help with Kai Callins reporting to the team following the football season. Callins finished with a team high 20 points in the finals.
“We had some guys really step up. Landon Solorio played an intricate role due to the fact that Bailey Nichols has been battling injuries. He scored over 40 points for the tournament and dominated the boards,” Coach Perry said.
“Callins and (Jeremy) Brown were the floor leaders. In the Championship game these guys really made some big buckets during Shawnee’s final rally. Callins just controlled the game with great poise,” Perry added.
Roberts not only got the job done offensively, but defensively as well according to Perry. “He worked around the basket on both sides of the court, making it difficult for the Wolves guard him or get second shots.”
The BlueJays got some great individual efforts, but it was defense that grab the attention of their coach after some in-game adjustments with Shawnee’s transition offense.
“We cause so much chaos with our tenacious defense. We were very active. I had to make a change to our line-up very quick. I told Solorio that his primary job was to get back on defense and cover the basket as fast as possible. That made the difference in how we played,” Perry said.
Perry concluded about the championship performance, “I have to give credit to our entire team. We came in focused and ready. Everyone truly contributed to the game as a whole. I hope that we take this victory as a stepping stone for what is to come.”
Both the freshman girls and boys will not be in action until January 3rd when they take on arch rival Carl Albert inside the GHS gymnasium.
Scoring in Championship Game:
Kai Callins 20, Reed Roberts 18, Landon Solorio 12, Jeremy Brown 8, Dakota Leach 7, Bailey Nichols 1
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