BY JACK BULLOCK
CRAB ORCHARD – Heading into the final day of the 19th Annual Crab Orchard Thanksgiving Tournament, the host Trojans had won 14-straight games in this event in taking home the last two tournament championships.

Win number 15 turned out to be an easy victory as they jumped out to a big early lead on Dongola and coasted home to a 64-29 win in a game that was never in doubt.

Head coach Jon Brown saw his club force the Demons into 24-turnovers, as they raced out to a 21-9 first quarter advantage.

But one of the other key stats came from the offensive glass as the Trojans cleaned up most of their messes in this matinee contest, grabbing 13 of their 24 total rebounds on the offensive end.

A sophomore and a freshman stepped up big for Crab Orchard on both ends of the floor as second year prep Tony Lakotich scored 17-points as he canned five 3-pointers in the win.

Freshman forward Quentin Meyers, a 6-foot-2 forward crashed the glass for nine of the 24-boards by the Trojans to go with his 13-points.

Senior guard Cameron Stephens added 10-points while fellow senior Levi Vinson added eight-points.

Eight different Trojans inked the book in the game as the hosts led 37-16 at halftime.

“They (Dongola) are young and they are a little bit out-manned right now,” said Coach Brown. “We wanted to come out today and take care of business early and establish the tone.”

For the Demons, head coach Preston Hall saw his club slump to 0-5 in the event.

His young team, with no seniors on the roster, was led by sophomore Joey Thomas and six-points each from Collin Hall and Clayton Smith.

The Trojans hit their first four field goal attempts, with three of the makes being from beyond the arc.

Lakotich hit two of the long range shots and Meyers grabbed a rebound for a stick back and a 15-4 advantage with 4:22 left in the first quarter.

The Trojans grabbed five offensive rebounds in the frame and Dongola committed six of their turnovers as Crab Orchard led by 12 at the first stop.

Coach Brown's team didn't shoot the ball particularly well in the contest, but their defense made up for any shortcomings.

The Trojans forced 11-turnovers in the second quarter and closed the half on a 12-3 run to push the lead to 33-16 at intermission.

A 14-2 scoring blitz to close the third quarter, led by eight-points from Lakotich, gave the Trojans a 55-26 spread

A 3-pointer by Stephens to begin the fourth quarter put the game into a continuous clock in the fourth quarter mercy rule.

The Trojans hit 22-of-49 overall from the floor, with 9-of-34 from the 3-point arc.

They did give up a lot of rebounds to the Demons (29) but they only allowed five offensive boards.

Crab Orchard, as opposed to Dongola, was careful with the ball as they committed just six turnovers in the game.

The Demons finished 13-of-35 overall, 1-of-4 from the arc.

Seventeen of the 24-turnovers came in the first 16-minutes.

“Sometimes games like this can be difficult to sustain your focus. But we are blending in a lot of new kids because we had a lot to replace from last year. With five games under our belts we are trying to establish some chemistry, with everyone playing together. We wanted to get a flow both offensively and defensively,” said Coach Brown. “This is what we needed this week and we got it.”

POPE COUNTY 71, EGYPTIAN 59
The Pirates took home a win in their final day of the event to post a 3-2 record to begin the season.

Coach Jim Simmons' club got 28-points from senior guard Matt Davis as they made a big move late to take home second place in the tournament.

The Pirates outscored Egyptian (1-4) 24-10 in the fourth quarter to overcome a two-point deficit.

Three other Pope County players hit for double-digits in scoring in the triumph.

Senior Cale Blankenship added 12-points to the totals while sophomore Jackson Eddington and junior Sebastian Fasolo chipped in 10 each.

Davis canned 12-of-13 free throws in the victory.

In fact, after missing his first free throw of the contest, Davis nailed 12-consecutive tosses, including seven-in-a-row in the fourth quarter.

The Pharaohs were led by senior Gavin Arnhart-Powell with 23-points while freshman Tyrone Huff added 12.

Sophomore Christian Trexler scored 10 for the Pharaohs.

ELVERADO 54, JOPPA 39
The Falcons topped the Rangers behind junior guard Aquantez Penn, who scored a game-high 25-points, as Elverado finished the tournament 3-2.

Coach Jacob Emling also got production from junior Isaac Floyd with 11-points and eight-points from Dawson White.

Joppa (3-2) got 12-points from senior Thomas Kendal and 10-points from Kaleb Cox in the loss.