Altamont Wins 55th Annual St. Elmo Holiday Tournament

ST. ELMO -- The Altamont Indians claimed their 13th championship of the 55th annual St. Elmo Holiday Tournament with a 45-37 victory over the Cowden-Herrick Hornets Saturday night.

Altamont used defense and long range shooting to gain an 11-2 first quarter lead. By halftime the Indians had moved out to 22-11 advantage thanks in large part to the 3 point shot as 18 of their 22 points came from beyond the arc. The teams played to a nine-nine tie in the third quarter for a score 31-20 heading into the final period of action.

Cowden-Herrick chopped the double digit deficit down to three late in the fourth quarter as Colton Burrus scored nine of his team high 15 points in the period, but Altamont made just enough free throws to hold off the rally and hang on for the victory. Altamont was 9 of 15 at the free throw line in the 4th quarter and 54% (13 of 24) overall from the charity stripe for the game.

Ryan Armstrong lead the Indians with 20 points hitting five of the teams eight 3 pointers. Klaiton Wolff added seven. Logan Deadmond and Brandon Runge finshed with six points each, while Eric Wolff and Justin Goeckner added three points apiece.

For Cowden-Herrick along with the 15 points from Burrus, Dylan Barnes finished with eight (all in the second half), Trey Pasley and Konnor Blackerby scored six and Micah Sandiford added two points.

While Altamont did win their 15th title (the most in tournament history) it will be their last, for a while at least, as the Indians will be leaving the St. Elmo Holiday Tournament to participate in the Cumberland Thanksgiving Tournament next season.

Altamont’s next action will be in the Vandalia Holiday Tournament Friday against Greenville while Cowden-Herrick will play St. Anthony at home Tuesday night in a contest that can be heard on 979 XFM.

In the third place game it was Okaw Valley over Ramsey 53-36. Mulberry Grove won the consolation title defeating St. Elmo/Brownstown 56-49. South Central opened action Saturday with a 56-43 win over Beecher City.

Mulberry Grove downed St. Elmo/Brownstown 56-49 by taking a 27-20 halftime lead and outscoring the Eagles 20-15 in the third period.

Feezel tallied 13 for St. Elmo/Brownstown while Oberlink scored 11.

In the South Central contest, the Cougars led 36-20 at halftime and held off Beecher City in the second half for the 56-43 win.

Langley scored 14 and led three players in double figures for the Cougars. Hamerier tallied 11 and Hill 10. Beecher City was led by Rexroad with 14.

St. Elmo Tournament

Championship Game

ALTAMONT (45)

Hosick 0-0 -- 0, Wolff 1-0 -- 3, Goeckner 1-1 -- 3, Armstrong 6-3 -- 20, Deadmond 1-3 -- 6, Runge 0-6 -- 6, Cornett 0-0 -- 0, K. Wolff 3-0 -- 7, Shepard 0-0 -- 0. TOTALS 12 FG, 13 FT.

COWDEN-HERRICK (37)

Blackerby 3-0 -- 6, Sandiford 1-0 -- 2, Lorton 0-0 -- 0, Burrus 4-6 -- 15, Black 0-0 -- 0, Pasley 2-0 -- 6, Nohren 0-0 -- 0, Barnes 3-2 -- 8. TOTALS 13 FG, 8 FT.

Altamont                     11    11     9    14    --    45

Cowden-Herrick          2       9    9    17    --    37

3-point FG -- Altamont 8 (E. Wolff 1, Armstrong 5, Deadmond 1, K. Wolff 1), Cowden-Herrick 3 (Burrus 1, Pasley 2).

Consolation Championship

MULBERRY GROVE (56)

Latham 6-2 -- 15, Redfern 5-2 -- 14, Sloan 2-0 -- 4, Iberg 1-1 -- 3, Franklin 0-0 -- 0, James 6-0 -- 12, Goodin 3-2 -- 8. TOTALS 23 FG, 7 FT.

ST. ELMO/BROWNSTOWN (49)

Brooks 1-0 -- 3, Maxey 3-0 -- 7, Kroll 2-0 -- 4, Noll 0-0 -- 0, Flowers 1-0 -- 3, Feezel 5-3 -- 13, Obelrink 4-1 -- 11, Hhardimon 3-2 -- 8. TOTALS 19 FG, 6 FT.

Mulberry Grove                    12    15     20      9    --    56

St. Elmo/Brownstown           8    12    15    14    --    49

3-point FG -- Mulberry Grove 3 (Redfern 2, Latham 1), St. Elmo/Brownstown 5 (Oberlink 2, Brooks 1, Maxey 1, Flowers 10.

Seventh-Place Game

BEECHER CITY (43)

Grove 0-0 -- 0, Willis 1-0 -- 2, Giles 1-0 -- 3, Arnold 1-0 -- 2, Rexroad 6-1 -- 14, Buzzard 0-0 -- 0, Randall 3-0 -- 6, Moeller 0-2 -- 2, Shelton 1-0 -- 2, Harder 5-2 -- 12. TOTALS 18 FG, 5 FT.

SOUTH CENTRAL (56)

Harmerier 5-0 -- 11, Hill 2-5 -- 10, Wilkins 0-0 -- 0, Markely 1-0 -- 2, Langley 7-0 -- 14, Riley 4-0 -- 8, Arnold 0-0 -- 0, Peters 0-3 -- 3, Powless 2-4 -- 8. TOTALS 21 FG, 12 FT.

Beecher City             10    10      8    15    --    43

South Central           18    18    11      9    --    56

3-point FG -- Beecher City 2 (Rexroad 1, Giles 1), South Central 2 (Harmerier 1, Hill 1).

All Tournament Team Members includes:

First Team
MVP-Ryan Armstrong Altamont
Klaiton Wolff Altamont
Peyton Hagermon Okaw Valley
Colton Burrus Cowden-Herrick
Damian Latham Mulberry Grove

Second Team
Konner Blackerby Cowden-Herrick
Devon Still Okaw Valley
Ty James Mulberry Grove
Brady Black Ramsey
Evan Langley South Central