It was a night as advertised Friday at the 72nd Salem Invitational. In front of a packed house at B.E. Gum, the Centralia Orphans held off a valiant effort by Salem 53-41. Gavin Zimmermann hit 5 three pointers to finish with 15, Connor Tennyson added 14. Cruz Harlan led the top seed Orphans with 17, Logan Meier and Daryle Jones added 11 each.
The Orphans improve to 21-1 and Salem falls to 8-14. Centralia will get #2 seed East St Louis in the finals after their win over Mount Vernon in the 2nd game 83-68. The Rams led 16-14 after the first quarter and only trailed 38-34 at the half. Robert McCline led the Flyers off the bench with 27 points. Davis Bynum finished with 19 points and 11 rebounds, Taylor Powell finished with 14 and Arlandis Brown finished with 11. Navontae Nesbit had 16 of his 23 points in the 2nd half, freshman Dave Barnes was great in the first half scoring 17 of his 19 in the first two quarters. Sophomore Cale Mauer added 16.
The day is set for the final day today at B.E. Gum. The consolation semifinals start at 11 with Effingham and Champaign Central followed by Carbondale and Charleston. The losers will play in the first trophy game for 7th place at 3 followed by the winners in the consolation finals at 4:30, Salem and Mount Vernon tip off for 3rd place at 6 and then the championship between Centralia and East St Louis around 7:30.
Every game can be heard on WJBD and streaming at WJBDradio.com.
Photo: Toby Gullion/FTS
Photo: Toby Gullion/FTS
