Monroe City Tournament opens with trio of lopsided victories

December 5, 2022 | By Muddy River Sports

Monroe City’s Meredith Gates (11) handles the ball against Mark Twain during the opening round of the 98th Annual Monroe City basketball tournament. Mathew Kirby/Herald Whig-Courier Post

Monroe City's Mari Gares pushes the ball up the court during the 42-8 victory over Mark Twain on Monday night in the opening game of the 98th annual Monroe City Tournament. | Photo courtesy Mathew Kirby

MONROE CITY, Mo. — The opening night of the 98th annual Monroe City Tournament featured a pair of lopsided victories in the girls bracket and only of the four games played being decided in the fourth quarter.

The third-seeded Louisiana boys outlasted sixth-seeded Mark Twain 60-54 behind 15 points from Jack Logan. Josh Brothers led the Tigers with 15 points and Connor Eckler added 12. In the other boys game, Bear Bock scored 17 points as second-seeded Palmyra beat seventh-seeded Paris 42-28. Carson Hicks added 13 points for the Panthers.

On the girls side, Monroe City’s Naaron Hays scored 13 points and Audri Youngblood added 10 points as the fourth-seeded Panthers defeated fifth-seeded Mark Twain 42-8. Monroe City led 28-1 at halftime. Top-seeded South Shelby beat eighth-seeded Paris 72-10 with Hannah Gaines scoring 18 points on six 3-pointers.