The 73rd Salem Invitational championship tonight will have a little extra heat stoking the fire when arch rivals meet for the big trophy after wins last night. The top-seed Centralia Orphans knocked off Champaign Central in a very close opening game 56-54. Champaign missed a free throw that would of tied the game late, and with the Orphans up 2 in the final 2 seconds, the Maroons Chris Bush put up a contested half-court shot out of a timeout that fell off the mark. Archie Goewey led the Orphans once again with 22 and Devin Meier was great before fouling out finishing with 11 points. Jaxson Hancock finished with 9. Bush had 22 for the Maroons and Cayden Love added 10 off the bench.
The Orphans will get Mt Vernon in the finals after the Rams held off a game TTown squad 53-46. Too much Cale Mauer as the Rams big man finished with 15 points and Trevor McCluer added 10. Dave Barnes chipped in 9 and was tough on the boards. Alex Kremer had 17 to lead the Shoes.
The day begins today with the consolation semifinals with Carbondale and Effingham starting at 11, followed by Salem and Charleston at 12:30. The trophy games will begin at 3pm with the 7th place game followed by the consolation finals at 4:30, the 3rd place game at 6 and the championship will be at 7:30. Following that they will announce the winner of the Scott Steward MVP Award.