Champions of Character Classic Session 1 Live Blog

<p>We are in the house here at Grace College for the 2021 Champions of Character Classic! Today, we will have coverage of the first session of this event featuring three great games. Be sure to follow <a href="https://twitter.com/BRamseyKSR">@BRamseyKSR</a> on Twitter for live updates and then check back here after each game for quick recaps and top performances.</p> <h2>Columbia City 59 vs. Fort Wayne Wayne 52</h2> <p>Unfortunately for Fort Wayne Wayne, this was another chapter in what has been the story for them so far this season. Their young, talented team has stuck around with some good teams for a half, but has generally let things slip away in the second half. That was the case once again against Columbia City on Saturday afternoon.</p> <p>The Eagles were up 11-8 after the first quarter, but Wayne came out hot and used a 9-2 run to take a 17-13 advantage with about three minutes left in the half. [player_tooltip player_id="1269910" first="Jaxon" last="Crawford"] had a couple of big put backs late in the period to help Columbia City climb back on top 21-19 at the halftime break.</p> <p>In the third quarter, Alex Hedrick scored seven points to start to allow the Eagles to pull away and they would maintain a double-digit lead for most of the way until the final minute. The Generals showed great fight down the stretch, especially playing without their point guard [player_tooltip player_id="1158193" first="Jevon" last="Lewis"] who was in street clothes today. A late run sparked by several buckets by junior guard Monte Smith cut it six points with under a minute to play. Then, turnovers and missed free throws by Columbia City allowed it to get within 5 with 18.6 seconds left after a [player_tooltip player_id="1297032" first="H.J." last="Dillard III"] putback. However, that was as close as the Generals could get as they would fall 59-52.</p> <p>[player_tooltip player_id="1063976" first="Mason" last="Baker"] scored 16 points to lead Columbia City as they moved to 6-1 on the season. Andrew Hedrick contributed 14 points including nine in the fourth quarter while [player_tooltip player_id="1269910" first="Jaxon" last="Crawford"] added 10 points and 9 rebounds. For Wayne, Monte Smith scored 12 points down the stretch on his way to a game high 18 points in the loss.</p> <h2>Fort Wayne Snider 86 vs. Merrillville 50</h2> <p>This one got out of hand quickly and just got more out of hand as the game went on. Snider jumped out to a quick 14-2 lead in the first few minutes of the game thanks to 11 combined points from their dynamic backcourt duo of [player_tooltip player_id="1168150" first="Aidan" last="Lambert"] and [player_tooltip player_id="870249" first="Karson" last="Jenkins"]. After the hot start, the Panthers never looked back.</p> <p>Snider would take a 44-23 lead into the locker room at halftime with Lambert outscoring the Pirates by himself with 25 points. He would go on to score a game-high 51 points, his second performance of at least 40 in three games, to lead Fort Wayne Snider to a 86-50 victory over Merrillville. Lambert added 9 rebounds to just narrowly miss the double-double.</p> <p>[player_tooltip player_id="870249" first="Karson" last="Jenkins"] added 15 points for Snider as they moved to 2-1 on the season. For the Pirates, it was [player_tooltip player_id="1168145" first="A.J." last="Dixon"] who led the way with 15 points and 8 rebounds. 6’6" senior forward [player_tooltip player_id="1063965" first="Lavonta" last="Ash"] contributed 10 points as well.</p> <h2>Central Noble 55 vs. Woodlan 51</h2> <p>Woodlan came out of the gates hot putting up 18 first quarter points including a trio of three-pointers. Their zone defense was slowing down Central Noble just enough and they did a great job of keying on [player_tooltip player_id="769682" first="Connor" last="Essegian"] to neutralize his shooting ability. After giving away the lead midway through the second quarter, the Warriors fought back with an 8-3 run to end the half with a 28-27 advantage.</p> <p>Pretty quickly in the third, things started to shift in the Eagles favor. [player_tooltip player_id="1269905" first="Ryan" last="Schroeder"] got going scoring his first 8 points of the game in the period while [player_tooltip player_id="1158228" first="Sam" last="Essegian"] and Conner Lemmon each hit big shots as well. Central Noble would get out ahead 47-40 after three quarters.</p> <p>Sophomore guard [player_tooltip player_id="1158186" first="Braden" last="Smith"] got hot for the Warriors in the forth knocking in a couple of 3’s to get it within three points midway through the period. Later in the quarter, [player_tooltip player_id="870234" first="Joe" last="Reidy"] hit a driving layup to cut it to one with just 1:05 remaining. Central Noble missed the front end of two one-and-one opportunities, but two late turnovers by Woodlan kept them from ever getting over the hump. The Class 2A #2 ranked Eagles would escape with a 53-51 victory.</p> <p>[player_tooltip player_id="769682" first="Connor" last="Essegian"] was held relatively quiet by his standards, but still led Central Noble with 16 points. Teammate Conner Lemmon played a great game adding 14 as the Eagles moved to 6-0 on the season. For Woodlan, it was junior guard Alex Miller who connected on five triples on his way to a game-high 19 points. [player_tooltip player_id="870234" first="Joe" last="Reidy"] was excellent as well stuffing the stat sheet with 13 points, 12 rebounds, and 4 assists.</p>