The St. Peter’s Lutheran Lady Lions, cheerleaders and mascot pose with the LIT trophy after winning it at Trinity Lutheran High School.
Submitted photo
The 30th annual Lutheran Invitational Tournament for eighth grade girls basketball was held Saturday and Sunday at Trinity Lutheran High School in Seymour.
Lutheran Central, Brownstown was the host school.
Defending LIT champion St. Peter’s Lutheran, Columbus recorded back-to-back championships by winning the 2023 tournament in dominating fashion.
The Lions went 3-0 for the weekend to record their fifth LIT championship in the history of the tournament. St. Peter’s won the LIT championship game over White Creek Lutheran, Columbus 46-16. They defeated Holy Cross, Fort Wayne 51-15 in their first game and then won over Emmanuel-St. Michael, Fort Wayne 49-17 to reach the championship game.
Other tournament participants included St. Peter’s Lutheran seventh grade team (Columbus), Immanuel Lutheran (Seymour), St. John’s Sauers (Seymour) and Lutheran Central (Brownstown).
Emmanuel-St. Michael defeated Lutheran Central 39-33 in the third-place game. St. John’s Sauers won the consolation championship game over Immanuel 30-18. Holy Cross took seventh place over the St. Peter’s seventh grade team 29-24.
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), Sydni Schiefer (St. Peter’s Columbus), Rian Strietelmeier (St. Peter’s Columbus), Annie Kleffman (White Creek), Emmy Price (White Creek), Marley Warren (Lutheran Central), Emerson Warren (Lutheran Central), Naomi Pennekamp (Emmanuel-St. Michael), Claire Rich (Emmanuel-St. Michael), Zoey Dulaney (St. John’s Sauers), Bella Wehmiller (Immanuel) and Lily Spreen (Holy Cross).
The Hot Shot competition winner was Brooklyn Bottorff (St. John’s Sauers), and the free throw contest winner was Sydni Schiefer (St. Peter’s Columbus).
The Indiana Lutheran Schools Athletic Association state tournament for eighth grade girls and boys teams will be Feb. 24 to 26 in Fort Wayne. St. Peter’s (Columbus), Immanuel (Seymour), Lutheran Central (Brownstown) and Emmanuel-St. Michael (Fort Wayne) will all compete in the girls portion of the state tourney.