The St. Peter’s Lutheran Lions won the Lutheran Central Invitational Tournament at Trinity Lutheran High School last weekend. Back from left are coach David Luken, Avery Johnson, Audrey Nordman, Emma Christie, Kenna Conrad, Bree Hatcher, Anna Meier, Michaela Smith, Sydni Schiefer and coach Rick Patberg. Front from left are Hope Xi, Reagan Moffit, Andi Carothers, Rian Strietlemier, Hazel Sasse, Ellie Jones, Daphne May and Brooklyn Donner.
Submitted photo
The 29th annual Lutheran Invitational Tournament for eighth grade girls basketball was Feb. 12 and 13 at Trinity Lutheran High School in Seymour with Lutheran Central of Brownstown as the host school.
St. Peter’s Lutheran in Columbus captured the 2022 girls LIT basketball championship by defeating Lutheran Central 23-13 in the tournament’s final game. The Lions went 3-0 for the weekend to record their fourth LIT championship in the history of the tournament. They defeated Holy Cross, Fort Wayne 43-21 in their first game and then won over St. John’s Sauers, Seymour 23-19 to reach the championship game.
Other tournament participants included St. Peter’s Lutheran (Fort Wayne), Immanuel Lutheran (Seymour), Emmanuel-St. Michael (Fort Wayne) and Wyneken Memorial Lutheran (Decatur).
St. John Sauer’s defeated Immanuel Lutheran 23-11 in the third-place game. St. Peter’s Fort Wayne won the consolation championship game over Wyneken 23-16. Holy Cross took seventh place over Emmanuel-St. Michael 38-19.
Emmanuel-St. Michael received the Christian Sportsmanship Award for the tournament.
The all-tournament team selected by the coaches included Avery Johnson (St. Peter’s Columbus), Kenna Conrad (St. Peter’s Columbus), Harley Toppe (Lutheran Central), Sophie Wischmeier (Lutheran Central), Marley Warren (Lutheran Central), Hailey Hobson (St. John’s Sauers), Zoey Dulaney (St. John’s Sauers), Emmy Followell (Immanuel), Zoe Williams (Immanuel), Alivia Bolinger (St. Peter’s Fort Wayne), Lanie French (Wyneken) and Kate Kitson (Wyneken).
The hot shot competition winner was Marley Warren (Lutheran Central), and the free throw contest winner was Zoe Williams (Immanuel).
The Indiana Lutheran Schools Athletic Association state tournament for eighth grade girls and boys teams will be Feb. 25 to 27 in Fort Wayne. All of the teams that competed in the LIT tournament, except St. John’s Sauers, also will compete in the girls portion of the state tourney.