The 13th annual Gary Filbert Classic has come and gone.
Seven games were played on the legendary court -- named for the legendary coach who had much success leading the Mexico Bulldogs program -- on Saturday at the Mexico Sports Complex. North Callaway began the day with a sweep of Paris, with the girls winning 59-45 after hitting 13 3-pointers and the boys winning 82-57 after their seniors Isiah Craighead and Sam Pezold combined for 60 points. Community R-6 then secured two victories as the boys came from behind to defeat Calvary Lutheran, outscoring the Lions 34-18 in the second half, and the girls winning 58-48 against Harrisburg, hitting 8-for-12 free throws in the second half. The Van-Far boys couldn't overcome a poor shooting start to lose to Harrisburg 55-51, despite cutting the deficit to one point and two points in the final minutes. The Lady Indians went back and forth with the Mexico girls until Claire Hudson heated up in the third quarter with four 3-pointers and the Lady Bulldogs turned up the defensive pressure to win 48-34. The Bulldogs closed the night with their own back and forth with Mexico native Tyronn Lue's alma mater Raytown but fell behind the final minutes largely because of Raytown drawing fouls and hitting 11-of-16 free throws in the fourth quarter.
The MVPs and top performers of each game are as follows:
North Callaway G-Paris G: North Callaway's Natalie Shryock (MVP) 24 points, six 3-pointers, Riley Blevins 11 points, six assists, four steals and three 3-pointers, Abrielle Burgher 11 points; Paris' Reese Sutton 19 points, five rebounds
North Callaway B-Paris B: North Callaway's Isiah Craighead (MVP) 33 points, 16 rebounds and four 3-pointers, Sam Pezold 27 poimts, five steals and three 3-pointers; Paris' Andre Miller 18 points, four 3-pointers, Colton Kendrick 12 points, seven rebounds
Community R-6 B-Calvary Lutheran: Community's Mason Carroll (MVP) 21 points, six rebounds and six steals, Caden Thomas 18 points, six assists, four 3-pointers and four steals; Calvary Lutheran's Eddy Brooks 22 points, Will Kuhlman 19 points
Community R-6 G-Harrisburg: Community's Kylie Brooks (MVP) 18 points, 13 rebounds and 8-12 free throws, Alyssa Beamer 15 points, Aaliyah Welch 10 points and seven rebounds; Harrisburg's Lainey Timbrook 13 points, Emma Fischer 12 points and 8-10 free throws
Van-Far B-Harrisburg: Van-Far's Nikos Connaway 14 points, seven rebounds and six assists; Harrisburg's Trace Combs (MVP) 18 points, Wyatt Lind 13 points and Bryce Ott 12 points and four 3-pointers
Mexico G-Van-Far G: Mexico's Claire Hudson (MVP) 22 points, nine steals, seven rebounds and five 3-pointers, Jo Thurman 11 points, five rebounds and four assists, and Landri Teel eight points and eight rebounds; Van-Far's Elliott Utterback 10 points, five rebounds and three steals and Chloe Zumwalt eight points, 13 rebounds and two blocks
Mexico B-Raytown: Raytown's Ramelo Smith (MVP) 19 points, Larry Porter 14 points; Mexico's DJ Long 19 points and five rebounds and PJ Perkins 14 points and eight rebounds
Look for the full stories for all 13th annual Gary Filbert Classic games in the Wednesday, Dec. 20, 2023, and Saturday, Dec. 23, 2023, editions of the Mexico Ledger.
