The 91st Glasgow Invitational Basketball tournament got underway Monday night with four games on the docket. On the girl’s side, top-seeded Cairo took the early game against Westran, seeded eighth, by a a score of 77-33 to advance in the winner’s bracket to play New Franklin on Wednesday at 7:30 p.m. Fourth-seeded New Franklin advanced after defeating Marceline, the fifth seed, 49-44.

New Franklin earned the victory on the heels of senior Abby Maupin’s 15 points. Junior Carly Dorson put in 10 points, while junior Addy Salmon contributed eight. Junior Emma Rice scored six to go along with classmate Kelsi Fair’s four.Senior Kristen Flick and freshman Tatum Hoover each added three.

New Franklin moves to 1-2 on the season with the win. 

“This was a much-needed and hard-fought win,” said New Franklin coach Morgan Vetter. “The girls played with much more confidence. They were aggressive and played together. We’re happy to advance in the tournament to play against Cairo, another competitive team.”

On the boy’s side, first-seeded Cairo advanced by beating up on the Glasgow JV team, which was filling in for Marceline, which dropped out of the tournament due to the football team’s advance to the state finals.

Cairo will match up against fifth-seeded New Franklin, which edged fourth-seeded Fayette 42-40 in Monday night’s nightcap. 

New Franklin led throughout the game. After trailing 11-2 after the first quarter, then 24-11 at the half, it looked as if Fayette might end up on the short end of a blowout. The Falcons decided they were having none of that, however, and outscored the Bulldogs 14-10 in the third to inch ever closer and cutting the gap to nine points. The Falcons then outscored the Bulldogs 15-8 in the final stanza but ran out of time prior to being able to tie the game.

New Franklin sophomore Tanner Bishop put in 13 for the Bulldogs followed by sophomore Drake Clark with 12. Senior Tre Cowans poured in seven, while classmate Caleb Hull and junior Clayton Wilmsmeyer each added four. Senior Brett Boggs rounded out the Bulldog scoring with two.

On the Fayette side of the ledger, senior Theo Owings knocked down 13 points while also blocking three Bulldog shots. Classmate Tyler Bartholomew added 11 points while junior Chase Allen-Jackman threw down nine. Junior Benjamin Wells added six and senior Trae’Veon Lee adde one to finish out the scoring.

“I actually did think we could make it close,” said Fayette coach Jon Bishop. Fayette has had little time to practice as a team since many players were on the football team that advance to the state quarterfinals in recent weeks. “I’m really proud of the grit that we showed after just one practice together.”

New Franklin moves on to play Cairo Wednesday at 6 p.m. while Fayette will battle the Glasgow JV at 9 p.m. that same night.