Honoring a legend

Hornets capture Munk Invite by downing Rebels, 59-47

BY JON REITER

sports@newsandtribune.com

HENRYVILLE — When Henryville boys’ basketball coach Perry Hunter decided to revive an annual holiday tournament that had been dormant since the 1960s, the goal was to honor McKee Munk, the longtime patriarch of the Hornets’ basketball program who died last year.

Munk would have been happy with the performance of his beloved Henryville squad Saturday night, as they battled toe-to-toe with Southwestern for 32 minutes and captured the holiday tournament championship with a 59-47 win over the Rebels.

“I actually got to sit and watch a little bit tonight,” Hunter said. “I thought our guys competed. We’ve got a lot of things to improve on, but really we did pretty well tonight.”

After a 3-pointer by Rebels guard LaMarkus Jenkins gave the Rebels a 12-11 lead with seven minutes left in the second quarter, Henryville went on a 7-0 run over the next 2:16 to capture a 18-12 lead and never trailed again.

The Hornets (6-4) opened the 2nd half with a 10-2 run that gave them a 32-20 lead with 2:30 left in the third quarter, highlighted by 3-pointers from guard Steven Mayfield and forward Kaleb Robertson.

The Rebels (5-4) tried to close the gap during the fourth quarter, and at one point Henryville turned the ball over on five consecutive possessions. But solid defensive work by the Hornets allowed only one Southwestern basket off those giveaways, and Henryville was able to squelch each Rebel rally attempt.

Mayfield scored 10 of his game-high 23 points in the fourth quarter and also grabbed 15 rebounds to lead the Hornets, who host Trinity Lutheran next Saturday. Forward Dylan Wolf added 15 points and six rebounds, and reserve forward Dustin Gardner grabbed nine rebounds.

The Hornets outrebounded the Rebels 40-29, an significant margin given the inside beef of 6-foot-5 center Austin Ames and forward Tanner Mahoney, who scored his 1,000th point for Southwestern on Saturday night.

“There was a point in the second half where it seemed like they missed, and we were grabbing almost every defensive rebound,” Hunter said. “Mayfield and Gardner were big on the boards for us.

“And Dylan didn’t do anything he’s not capable of doing. He’s been a nice surprise for us this year, and we knew we could play. We had to find an identity with this team and he’s a big part of it.”

Hunter said that although his squad has a lot of basketball left to play this season, winning the McKee Munk Invitational was a nice midseason measure for his squad.

“You know, we bought those trophies, and it’s nice that they get to stay here,” he said. “As long as we have this tournament, it’ll have McKee’s name on it and hopefully 50 years from now we’ll still be honoring him with it.”

Mahoney led the Rebels with 13 points and 10 rebounds, and Andrew Means added 10 points and six rebounds.

Henryville defeated Edinburgh in Saturday’s first round, 71-60.



MCKEE MUNK INVITATIONAL

CHAMPIONSHIP

SOUTHWESTERN 9 9 7 22—47

HENRYVILLE 11 11 15 22—59

Southwestern (5-4) — Ames 8, Mahoney 13, Jones 0, Means 10, Taylor 9, Mabrey 2, Jenkins 5, Hamilton 0, Perry 0.

Henryville (6-4) — Stone 3, Weeks 4, Wolf 15, Mayfield 23, Robertson 10, Gardner 2, Carlson 2, Boyd 0, Everage 0.

3-point field goals — Southwestern 4 (Means 2, Taylor, Jenkins); Henryville 6 (Mayfield 4, Robertson 2).

Rebounds — Southwestern 29 (Mahoney 10); Henryville 40 (Mayfield 15).

Turnovers — Southwestern 16, Henryville 15.

CONSOLATION GAME: Indianapolis Tindley 63 (21-15-15-12) — Bonds 16, Adeniyi 12, Archie 8, Beveryl 4, Billups 6, Grant 7, Larkins 10; Edinburgh 51 (21-8-4-18) — Earles 20, Wuest 10, Case 11, J. Burton 3, D. Burton 3, C. Burton 4.