By Keith Harrington

The Burr and Burton boys basketball team is becoming a thorn in the side of Granville. The Bulldogs defeated the Golden Horde  for the third straight time dating back to pre-Covid 19 to claim the championship of the 43rd Granville American Legion Post 323 Holiday Tournament 50-47 Thursday evening. The loss snapped a five game winning streak for Granville.

Burr and Burton rallied from a 15 point first half deficit and took advantage of Granville’s struggles at the free throw line to earn the crown. 

“We shot nine for 9 for 17 from the foul line,” Granville coach Justin Nassivera said after the game. “If we make those we win the game.” 

The Golden Horde appeared ready to finally solve Burr and Burton early on. Granville led 13-8 after the first quarter and seemed to take control in the second. A 10-0 run pushed the lead to 27-12, the biggest lead of the game. 

A 7-0 run by Burr and Burton closed the gap to 27-19, but Granville took a 33-21 lead to the locker room. 

The contest turned on a dime in the third. Granville went ice cold, not scoring a point until 1:35 remaining in the stanza. The Bulldogs outscored the Golden Horde 14-4 in the frame to pull within 37-33. 

In the fourth a pair of Will Jennings baskets made it 41-37, but Burr and Burton took over after that. A pair of foul shots by Will Amedin gave the Bulldogs a 45-44 lead. A 3-pointer by Callum Morell made it 48-44 and Burr and Burton held on the rest of the way. 

Amedin scored 22 points to pace the Bulldogs. 

Caleb Nelson scored 22 points for Granville. Cody Nelson scored eight points. William Jennings and Trey Senevey added six each.

Granville is now 5-2 on the season. 

Amedin was named the tournament Most Valuable Player. Also named to the All-Tournament team were Morell, Caleb Nelson, Braydin Stone of Corinth and Vuk Sovovic of Grace Christian. 

Corinth defeated Grace Christian 54-52 in the consolation game. 

Photo Credit-Stacie Arnhold