The Alexandria Tigers got some revenge on the Lapel Bulldogs with a 62-53 win to finish fifth in the Madison County Boys Basketball Tournament.

The Elwood Panthers claimed their first win of the season and seventh place as they defeated the Liberty Christian Lions 53-49.

The fifth-place game was a rematch of a Dec. 23 bout, in which the Bulldogs crushed Alexandria, 74-48.

But revenge was sweet for the Tigers (9-4) on Saturday night.

It looked like Lapel’s Bulldogs (6-5) were going to run away with the game again as they raced to an 11-0 lead to start the game. Alex coach Garth Cone must have had the same notion. In the midst of the Bulldogs’ run, Cone shouted, “Here we go again!” as he watched his team give up easy buckets.

His team responded in a big way.

The Tigers destroyed the Bulldogs’ momentum, outscoring them 24-10 in the second quarter and carrying a 33-25 lead at the half.

Alex extended the lead by as many as 12 points in the second half and saw its lead diminish to three on a couple of occasions, but it never relinquished the lead.

“I thought our execution during different time spans, one in the second quarter … was about as good as we cold do up to this point,” Cone said.

Lapel coach Jimmie Howell said he felt that his team had taken a back seat to individual play.

“I’m trying to figure this team out and can’t,” Howell said.

Chance Morphew led three Tigers in double figures with 15 points. Zach Yeagy had 14, while Matt Johnson had 13.

Chandler Guion was the leading scorer for Lapel with 17. Logan Ingle scored 15 points, and Austin Gardner had 10.

In the seventh-place game, neither team seemed willing or able to pull away from the other. In the second quarter, it appeared that the Panthers (1-10) might be in control with a 19-8 lead, but their leading scorer, Korbin Buster, got into foul trouble early and the offense became stagnant.

By the end of the quarter, Liberty (2-8) had knotted things up at 22.

Elwood’s Buster and Joel Moser keyed the pivotal third quarter as they combined to score all 13 of their team’s points. They outscored the Lions’ whole squad, which managed just nine points in the period.

Panthers coach Terry Martin was pleased more for his players than for himself or his coaches.

“I was really happy with the win and happy for the kids, because I’ve been around long enough (that) I’ve won and lost games before,” Martin said. “They needed something positive this year to build off of.”

Liberty coach Jason Chappell was not immediately available following the game.

Buster finished with 17 points for Elwood, while Brandon Leisure had 12. Moser scored 10.

Thatcher Rouse led Liberty Christian with 14 points, including three 3-pointers. Ryan Lechlitner and Erick Huddleston each scored nine points for the Lions.

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