Crusaders win McDonald’s tournament

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The Fayette Christian School Crusaders won for the fourth consecutive year their own tournament, the FCS/Epifano’s McDonald Basketball Invitational, held Jan. 22 and 23 at the school’s gym.

Friday, Jan. 22 Semifinals

Fayette Christian 55, Germantown Christian 21

After Germantown scored the first points of the game, the Crusaders scored the next eight points and went on to lead 20-4 after the first quarter and were never challenged.

Nate Crichton had his best game so far this season, leading the team with 16 points.

Drew Pontious chipped in with nine points. Scoring eight points each was Zander Ivey, Brady Bumpus and Justin Wines.

Aaron Taylor came off the bench to add four points and Gage McDaniel finished the team scoring with two points.

The Crusaders forced the Conquerors (1-6) into 27 turnovers which resulted in 14 points.

Germantown was led by Tytus Bray with eight points and Kolton Johnson and Josiah Watson each scored five points.

Ross County Christian 63, Wayside Baptist 53

The Eagles (3-1) led by double digits most of the second half, increasing their lead to 15 points before Wayside cut the deficit to four points.

Despite that effort, they fell short and saw Ross County in the fourth period again pushing their lead back to double digits.

Gabe Bevan led Ross County with 28 points (4-3s) and Ayden Hutchison added 22 points and 12 rebounds.

Wayside was led by Jason Gregory with a double-double of 22 points and 11 rebounds.

Saturday, Jan. 23 consolation

Wayside 61, Germantown 60

It was a shootout with neither team leading by more than five points during the contest.

Jason Gregory of the Wayside Warriors set a new tournament record with 32 points in the game and finished with 54 total points in the two-game tournament, tying another record that was set in last year’s tournament by Nate Fishpaw, also of Wayside, who had 30 points in the semifinals and a total of 54 points in the tournament.

Jadon Gregory added 12 points to the Warriors’ total. The team hit 10 three-pointers during the game.

Germantown’s Tytus Bray led his team with 23 points and a new record 19 rebounds in a game. He had a total of 30 rebounds in the tournament, which is another record.

Kolton Johnson had 22 points including 11 of those in the fourth quarter.

Championship

Fayette Christian 65, Ross County Christian 30

Fayette Christian jumped out to a 15-0 lead in the first quarter and with the win stands 8-0 in the tournament.

The Crusaders (5-1) were led by Brady Bumpus with 15 points. Justin Wines had 14 points and eight rebounds and Drew Pontious and Nate Crichton added nine points each.

Zander Ivey and J.P. Crichton had five points each. Aaron Taylor and Cade Whitaker added four points each.

Ross County was led by Gabe Bevan with nine points.

This year each team had 1 player selected for the All-Tournament team.

Selected was Nate Crichton for Fayette Christian, Gabe Bevan of Ross County, Jordan Gregory of Wayside and Tytus Bray of Germantown.

The Crusaders on the court at Fayette Christian School following their victory in the fourth annual FCS/Epifano’s McDonald’s Basketball Invitational Saturday, Jan. 23, 2021. (l-r); Coach Gary Shaffer, Toby Butcher, Jake Crichton, Cade Whitaker, Gage McDaniel, Aaron Taylor, Zander Ivey, (Luke Granger, holding trophy), Drew Pontious, Brady Bumpus, Nate Crichton, Micah Coole, Coach Vic Pontious and Noah Gibbs.
https://www.recordherald.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/27/2021/02/web1_Crusaders-pic.jpgThe Crusaders on the court at Fayette Christian School following their victory in the fourth annual FCS/Epifano’s McDonald’s Basketball Invitational Saturday, Jan. 23, 2021. (l-r); Coach Gary Shaffer, Toby Butcher, Jake Crichton, Cade Whitaker, Gage McDaniel, Aaron Taylor, Zander Ivey, (Luke Granger, holding trophy), Drew Pontious, Brady Bumpus, Nate Crichton, Micah Coole, Coach Vic Pontious and Noah Gibbs. Courtesy photo

By Randy Young

For the Record-Herald

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