By David Sharp
Both top seeds held service winning the championships of the 97th Annual Monroe City Tournament, held December 6-11, 2021. South Shelby ran the table in the girls’ bracket, defeating Palmyra by a final score of 58-46 in the girls’ championship game.
Maranda Patterson put in a game high 24 Lady Bird points. Candra King led the second seeded Lady Panthers with 18 points. Tenth ranked in Class 1 Marion County (5-1) took the ball to the lane in the girls third place game, defeating Highland (3-3) by a 66-40 margin.
Mark Twain topped Monroe City 37-28 in the girls’ consolation championship game. Highland advanced to the girl’s championship bracket with a 52-31 win over Monroe City. South Shelby beat Highland to the spots and out rebounded the Lady Cougars in a 61-30 championship semifinal win.
Top seeded, and top ranked Monroe City improved to 4-1 on the season with an impressive 77-36 win over Highland (3-3) in the boys’ championship game. Joshua Talton scored a game high 21 Panther points in the boys’ title tilt. Cameron Bringer led Highland with 14 points.
Louisiana topped Palmyra (3-3) by a 58-40 margin in the boys’ third place contest. South Shelby knocked off Mark Twain by a 54-47 margin in the boys’ consolation championship game.
Second seeded Highland downed Paris by a 67-39 final in first round play. The Cougars got past Louisiana by a 70-56 final in boys’ championship semifinal action.
