The Saints received the runner-up plaque for the third annual St. Ignace B.C. Pizza Holiday Classic Hoops Tournament Tuesday, December 30. Team members include (from left) Evan Everson, Kevin Guillard, Anthony Lester, Coach Jason Marshall, Mike Barthelemy, Tyler Mapes, Gerrit Mortensen, Gunnar Zipp, and Austin St. Louis. The St. Ignace Saints fell to former conference rival Gaylord Blue Devils 57-50 in the third annual B.C. Pizza Holiday Hoops Classic title game Tuesday, December 30, in St. Ignace.

Both teams were members of what was once called the Michigan Huron Shores Conference. St. Ignace has remained in the conference, which is now called Straits Area Conference, while Gaylord is in the Big North Conference.

Championship and runner-up plaques were presented to the Blue Devils and Saints, and medals were awarded to the all-tournament team that included Quinn Woodhouse and Joe Arnold of Gaylord, Anthony Lester and Travis Mapes of St. Ignace, and Quinn Wakefield of Escanaba.

Anthony Lester scored the first five points for St. Ignace, bringing a 15-11 lead after the first eight minutes before Gaylord opened the second quarter with a 7-0 scoring run to lift the Blue Devils to an 18-8 overall second quarter scoring edge before halftime, for a 29-23 lead at the half. The Blue Devils lost the lead in the second half.

Holiday Classic Hoops All- Tournament Team member Anthony Lester (14) of St. Ignace attempts a three-point field goal in the championship game against Gaylord. Both teams scored eight points in the third quarter and the Blue Devils held a 20-19 scoring edge in the final eight minutes.

Saints statistics: Anthony Lester, 15 points; Tyler Mapes, 12 points, Gerrit Mortensen, 11 points; Austin St. Louis, nine points; Kevin Guillard, three points.

Gaylord statistics: Nick Freeman, 16 points; Quinn Woodhouse, 14 points; Lucas Wickert, eight points; Taylor Ciszewski, six points; Dustin Shoff, five points; Joe Arnold, four points; Dustin Mastej, Kurt Dutcher, two points.

Escanaba Downs Sault in Consolation Game

Tyler Mapes (30) of St. Ignace, an all-tournament selection, goes up strong for a two-point field goal. The Escanaba Eskymos breezed to an 83-48 win over the Sault Ste. Marie Blue Devils in the consolation game Tuesday, December 30.

Eskymos leading scorers: Quinn Wakefield, 26 points; Jace Daniels, 16 points.

Blue Devils leading scorers: Kyle Beaumont, 22 points; Steven Angeli, 10 points.

Saints Upend Sault Blue Devils in Tourney Semifinals

St. Ignace and Sault Ste. Marie started out sluggishly on the offensive end in the semifinals of the B.C. Pizza Classic Holiday Tournament before the Saints took control over the Blue Devils in the second and third quarters for a 75-66 Straits Area Conference win Monday, December 29.

The Saints held a 12-9 scoring edge after the first eight minutes and, on the strength of Tyler Mapes' 10 points and Gerrit Mortensen's eight second quarter points, St. Ignace outscored the Blue Devils 26-18 for a 38-27 halftime advantage.

Mortensen scored 10 points to open the second half as the Saints increased their lead to 59-42 with a 21-15 scoring edge in the third quarter, but Steven Angeli scored 12 points as the Blue Devils cut the St. Ignace lead to six points late in the game. Austin St. Louis of the Saints converted a three-point play in the closing minute of play to clinch the win.

The Saints' Gerrit Mortensen (3) splits through two Blue Devils defenders in the semifinals match-up between St. Ignace and Sault Ste. Marie during the B.C. Pizza Holiday Hoops Classic. Saints statistics: Gerrit Mortensen, 22 points, eight rebounds, four assists; Austin St. Louis, 21 points, four rebounds; Tyler Mapes, 18 points, 14 rebounds, three assists; Anthony Lester, eight points, 10 assists, seven rebounds, three steals; Evan Everson, four points, three steals, three rebounds; Mike Barthelemy, two points, two rebounds; Kevin Guillard, four rebounds.

Blue Devils statistics: David Deuman, 18 points; Steven Angeli, 14 points; Kyle Beaumont, 12 points; Caleb Vizina, eight points; Jim Walton, six points; Brian Killips, four points; Brandon Carr, Curtis Weber, two points.

Mike Barthelemy (32) scores a second-half field goal for the Saints in the win over Sault Ste. Marie. Gaylord Downs Escanaba in Semifinal

In the first semifinal contest of the tournament, the Gaylord Blue Devils defeated the Escanaba Eskymos 70-43.

Blue Devils leading scorers: Nick Freeman, 16 points; Lucas Wickert, 15 points; Joe Arnold, 13 points.

Eskymos leading scorers: Quinn Wakefield, 11 points; Jace Daniels, eight points.

Saints JV Split Games

The St. Ignace Saints junior varsity team, coached by Jason Latz, split its games during the holiday classic with a 42-40 win over Sault Ste. Marie Blue Devils in the semifinals Monday, December 29, but lost 54-34 to the Escanaba Eskymos in the championship game Tuesday, December 30.

Saints statistics vs. Blue Devils: Cole Christianson, 17 points, five steals; Grant Simmons, 10 points, 14 rebounds; John Eby, seven points; Patrick Sweeney, Aaron Colegrove, three points; Nate Montie, two points.

Saints statistics vs. Eskymos: Cole Christianson, 10 points; Grant Simmons, seven points, 15 rebounds; John Eby, Aaron Colegrove, Ben Idalski, two points; Landon Marshall, one point.