close

Holiday champs: Rockets, Lady Raiders claim Lions Club Coal Bowl titles

By Rob Burchianti 5 min read
1 / 5
Jefferson-Morgan’s team, including head coach Brandon Lawless (back middle) and tournament MVP Houston Guesman (2), poses with the Lions Club Coal Bowl championship trophy after defeating Carmichaels in the boys final Saturday.
2 / 5
Waynesburg Central’s team, including head coach Chris Minerd (back row, third from right) and tournament MVP Avery Smith (holding MVP plaque), poses with 2024 Coal Queen Ava Smith who holds the Lions Club Coal Bowl championship trophy the Lady Raiders won by defeating Uniontown Saturday.
3 / 5
Carmichaels boys basketball coach Ian McCombs directs his team during its win over Mapletown Friday night in the Lions Club Coal Bowl tournament held at Carmichaels. McCombs has been a part of the long-running tournament as a spectator, player, girls coach and boys coach over the years.
4 / 5
Carmichaels' team poses with the runner-up trophy for this year's Lions Club Coal Bowl boys tournament.
5 / 5
Uniontown's team poses with the runner-up trophy for this year's Lions Club Coal Bowl girls tournament.

CARMICHAELS – Jefferson-Morgan coach Brandon Lawless didn’t want to leave anything for chance when his boys basketball team entered this year’s annual Lions Club Coal Bowl holiday tournament at Carmichaels.

“I told them at the start they are the team to beat and everyone has a target on them being that they have won the tournament back to back, so they are getting everyone’s best,” Lawless said. “I thought they responded well.”

The Rockets pulled away from Beth-Center on Friday night, 56-37, then put away Carmichaels in Saturday’s championship game, 68-27, to give Lawless and his team a third consecutive tournament title.

Carmichaels reached the final by topping Mapletown, 56-25, on Friday.

Houston Guesman, who was voted the MVP of the boys tournament, scored a game-high 19 points as Jefferson-Morgan took complete control from the start in the win over the Mikes, rolling to a 22-0 lead after one quarter and never looking back.

Jase Bedillion followed with 18 points and Jeremiah Robertson added 17 points.

Waynesburg Central took the championship trophy on the girls side by fending off Uniontown in Saturday’s final, 37-32, after beating Jefferson-Morgan on Friday, 33-17. Uniontown made the final by knocking off the host Lady Mikes, 48-22, Friday.

Lawless has liked what he’s seen thus far from his Rockets, who improved to 7-2 overall and are 3-0 and tied with West Greene for first place in Section 3-AA.

“I’m most impressed with the camaraderie my guys have shown,” Lawless said. “It’s never easy playing back-to-back nights and they picked up tonight where they left off last night, playing team basketball. They are sharing the ball on offense and playing hard-hosed defense, and good things are going to happen when you do those things playing together as five.

“I’m proud of the steps they have made over the course of the season to improve in all aspects of the game. I always preach win the little victories and I challenge them to do that all of the time. I think they did that this weekend.”

Beth-Center won the boys consolation game, 78-29, over Mapletown. Jason Zellie sank six 3-pointers while pouring in 30 points for the Bulldogs and Parker Amos and Tyler Kurowski each added nine points for Beth-Center (5-4) which roared to a 50-12 halftime lead.

Lucas Stevenson led Mapletown (0-8) with 16 points.

In addition to Guesman taking the MVP, the boys all-tournament team included Bedillion and John Woodward of J-M, Robbie Wilson-Jones and Chase Ankrom of Carmichaels, Zellie and Stevenson.

Waynesburg’s win over the Lady Red Raiders was a battle throughout in the girls final.

The score was tied 7-7 after one quarter but the Lady Raiders held a 17-15 halftime lead and a 26-21 advantage after three quarters. Davis tossed in a game-high 21 points for Waynesburg (6-2) and Peyton Cowell and Mya Smith each added six points.

Charley Murtha led the Lady Red Raiders (4-5) with 13 points and Emily Myers followed with eight.

Waynesburg coach Chris Minerd was pleased with his team’s effort.

“It’s always tough playing during the holidays,” Minerd said. “However I’m proud of the way the team stepped up during the tournament. Avery Davis was named MVP and Peyton Cowell and Mya Smith were named to the all-tournament team.”

Minerd’s squad, which returned just one starter in Cowell, has been a pleasant surprise so far at 6-2 overall and 2-0 in Section 3-AAA.

“We are excited to get back to section play and see what we can do,” Minerd said. “We’re off to a good start. Our challenge is going to be finding consistency. We will need everyone to contribute.”

In the girls consolation game, the Lady Rockets took control in the second half to earn a 35-24 win over host Carmichaels.

Ava Wood led the way for Jefferson-Morgan (1-8) with 10 points.

The Lady Mikes led 9-8 after the first quarter and 14-12 at halftime before J-M surged in front with a 9-4 edge in the third quarter to go up 21-18. Jefferson-Morgan pulled away in the final frame, outscoring Carmichaels 14-6.

Ali Jacobs tallied six points for the Lady Mikes (0-9).

In addition to MVP Davis, Cowell and Smith, the all-tournament team for the girls tournament included Murtha, Myers, Wood and Jacobs.

The tournament drew a significant crowd both days.

Carmichaels boys coach Ian McCombs has been a part of the long-running tournament for years, as a spectator, a player, a coach of the Lady Mikes and currently as coach of the Mikes.

“I’ve been a part of it in a lot of ways,” McCombs said after Friday night’s win over the Maples. “This tournament means a lot to this area, even more so the past couple years because Jefferson wasn’t in our section and neither was Mapletown, and those have always been close-by rivalries. We’d meet here and then you get fans more interested, fans traveling from those schools to see those games.

“You see the crowd here tonight for both our game and the Beth-Center and Jefferson game.

It’s just a good thing for the community. It’s good to keep those rivalries alive, especially in those years when we’re not in the same section.

“It’s good to see all the representation from all the schools and the communities involved in this tournament and I’d like to see us keep it going for as long as we can.”

CUSTOMER LOGIN

If you have an account and are registered for online access, sign in with your email address and password below.

NEW CUSTOMERS/UNREGISTERED ACCOUNTS

Never been a subscriber and want to subscribe, click the Subscribe button below.

Starting at $4.79/week.

Subscribe Today