The 38th Annual Ayersville Holiday Tournament started out the Pirates way as they opened up the games with a 6 point lead over Leipsic. The Thursday contest started with Pirate Kerri Prowant opening up the events scoring with a basket. It was followed by a Viking basket to make it 2 all. A Catelyn Etter basket was countered by a Viking basket to make it 4 all. The Pirates D took control for the rest of the quarter as the Vikings total stayed at 4 while the Pirates put in 6. The Pirates got a free throw from Prowant, a basket from Addyson Armey, and a basket and free throw from Etter to make it 10-4 Pirates after 1.
The second quarter saw the Vikings pull within 1 as they hit the first basket of the quarter to make it 10-6 Pirates. A 3 by Armey gave the Pirates their largest lead of the game at 7, 13-6. The Vikings would score the last 6 points of the quarter to make it 13-12 Pirates at half.
A 3 by Pirate Armey opened up the second half and pushed the Pirate lead back to 4 16-12. A 5 point run by the Vikings made it 17-16 Vikings. A 3 by Prowant would make it 19-17 Pirates. The Vikings regained the lead when they put in 3 of 4 free throws to make it 20-19 Vikings. A basket by Armey gave the Pirates their last lead of the night at 21-20. The Vikings would put in the last 9 points of the quarter to make it 29-21 after 3.
The Pirates and Vikings traded baskets to start the fourth scoring with Armey hitting for the Pirates. A 3 by Pirate Alex Hoeffel made it a 5 point game Vikings 31, Pirates 26. A basket by the Vikings was followed by a Madelyn Potts free throw and a Armey basket made it a 4 point game Vikings 33, Pirates 29. A free throw by the Vikings was followed by an Armey basket to make it a one possession game Vikings 34, Pirates 31. The Vikings would finish the game hitting 6-6 from the line for the 40-31 victory.
Addyson Armey led the Pirates with 16 points while Kerri Prowant put in 6. Catelyn Etter scored 5, Alex Hoeffel 3 and Madelyn Potts 1. Armey hit 2 threes for the Pirates while Prowant and Hoeffel hit 1. The Vikings were 15 – 19 from the line, Continental 3-9. Continental was without leading scorer Madi Sharp.
Continental falls to 0-8 and met Hilltop in the Ayersville Holiday Tournament Consolation game on Friday at 6:00. Leipsic (7-1) advances to the finals against host Ayersville. Ayersville defeated Hilltop 50-15 in that semifinal.
–Mike Jones, Sportswriter
