CAMERON— Chillicothe and Excelsior Springs both came into Thursday afternoon’s game at the Cameron Invitation Tournament with 3-10 records. The winner would advance to Friday night’s consolation final game, while the loser would get in an extra day of practice.
When the final horn sounded with a 51-47 score, it was the Hornets who would play and Tigers who would practice.
The comeback win advanced Chillicothe’s record to 4-10 and put it in today’s 6:30 p.m. game against Lawson, a 57-44 victor over St. Joseph: Bishop LeBlond in last night’s late game.
Ironically, that will be the first of two meetings in 12 days between the Hornets and Lawson as the Cardinals will visit Chillicothe on Feb. 9.
The headliner of yesterday’s game was CHS senior guard Bryce Young
Early on, it was obvious he would be a force to be dealt with, even though he’d scored 27 points when the two met (and ESHS won) in December.
The Tigers apparently forgot what number he wore as he torched Excelsior Springs all night, especially in the first half.
He single-handedly kept Chillicothe in the game before the break, scoring all but two of the Hornets’ 27 first-half points, and finished with 34, the most any CHS cager in several years.
Young at last received some needed help from teammates in the second half when CHS rallied from an 11-point deficit in the second quarter to pull out the four-point win.