Cyclones blow past Mustangs to take Bay Invitational title

Buffalo Island Central's junior high boys made it all the way to the finals of the Bay Invitational Tournament before losing to MacArthur 69-38 in the championship game Saturday afternoon at Bay.

Riverside's Brandon Sain (42) scores over Mustang Nick Bollinger in junior high boys basketball action. Sain led the Rebels with 15 points in Riverside's 48-41 win over BIC Friday night at Caraway. (Town Crier photo/Trent Fletcher)

Marquise Bryant pumped in a game high 23 points to lead the Cyclones to the tournament title. Dre Mason and Kanyatae Woods pitched in 15 and 10 points respectively for MacArthur, who improved to 4-1 on the year.

The Cyclones built a 35-26 halftime lead and outscored BIC 20-6 in the third period to put the game out of reach.

Austin Pike pumped in 18 points while Nick Bollinger scored 10 and added nine rebounds to lead the Mustang attack.

BIC opened the tournament with a thrilling 41-36 overtime win over Trumann in the quarterfinals Wednesday night.

The Wildcats held a slim 11-10 lead after the first quarter before increasing their margin to 19-14 at the half. BIC battled back to tie the score 22-22 after three periods before the game went into overtime, where the Mustangs outscored Trumann by five points to pull out the victory.

Bollinger led BIC with 16 points while Pike added 14 more. Eric Navarro scored six, Drake Brown tallied three while Jacob Sanders chipped in two points to round out the Mustang scoring. BIC struggled from the foul line, hitting just 9-24 attempts while hitting two three pointers on the night.

BIC advanced to the finals with a 49-45 victory over Nettleton in Thursday night's semifinals. Bollinger led three Mustangs in double figures, scoring 18 points. Sanders netted 13 while Pike added 11 more. Navarro tallied three while Brown and Alan Carmichael added two points apiece. The Mustangs hit 13-17 free throws and drilled four three pointers.

The Mustangs completed a busy week of basketball, dropping a pair of 2A-3 conference tilts. BIC lost to Maynard 57-45 Tuesday night on the road before losing a 48-41 decision Friday night against Riverside at Caraway.

Colton Watson drilled six three pointers on his way to a 22 point performance to lead Maynard over BIC. McKenzie Koons added 12 more for the Tigers, who hit 8-11 foul shots while draining nine three pointers on the night. Maynard held leads of 18-14 after the first period, 34-25 at the half and 48-35 after three quarters.

Pike led BIC with 12 points while Carmichael and Sanders chipped in 11 and 10 points respectively. Bollinger scored six, Brown netted five while Navarro added two points to round out the Mustang attack. BIC hit 6-11 foul shots and made five treys.

Brandon Sain led Riverside with 15 points in the Rebel's seven point victory against BIC. Kollin Stone also scored in double digits with 11 points for the Rebels. Caleb Waugh tallied eight, Ben Hensely contributed seven, Zach Reese added four while Victor Cerda chipped in three points.

Pike and Bollinger led the Mustangs in scoring with 14 points apiece while Sanders and Navarro chipped in six points each. Brown completed the Mustang scoring with one point.

The two teams were tied 11-11 after one period of play before Riverside bolted to a 27-18 halftime advantage. The Rebels extended their margin to 43-28 after three quarters.