Postseason begins for church hoops

Third-seeded Locust Street came away with a narrow win over Pioneer No. 2 in the first round of the church league basketball tournament Monday, downing their fifth-seeded foes by a 47-46 final.

Chris Hennessee led the way with 18 points for the winners, including a dozen in the first half as Locust Street led 7-6 after a quarter and 23-8 at the half.

Pioneer, who was led by 12 points each from Craig Mitchell and Kenny Smith, battled back to tie the game at 29-all entering the fourth quarter, but couldn’t quite complete the rally as seven points from Justin Bouldin led Locust’s charge in the final stanza.

Bouldin finished with 11 points, while Randy Mullican added 10 for the winning side. Pioneer’s Josh Nunley had nine points, while John Templeton scored eight.

In other tournament games from Monday:

Pioneer #1 52,

Apostolic Faith 40

The regular-season champions were led by a 15-point night from Jonathan Jones, including three 3-pointers. Jeff Robinson tossed in a pair of treys of his own on the way to a dozen points, while Billy Jones had six.

Randal Harrell had a game-high 26 points to lead Pioneer, including six 3-pointers. Tyrell Nunley, Peter Hines and Brandon Adcock had six each.

Central 59,

First Baptist 27

Central had little trouble earning a tournament win, with Adam Wood leading the charge with 14 points. Jeff Vance added 12, all on 3-pointers, while Isaac Slatton scored 11 and Travis Young had 10.

First Baptist’s Brad Womack had 11 points, while Clint Moore scored six.

Tourney games from Thursday, Jan. 17, included:

Apostolic Faith 61,

Morrison 45

Apostolic Faith opened the tournament with a win over Morrison, and was led by Jonathan Jones’ 35 points. Jeff Robinson scored 17.

Aaron Roberts had 13 for Morrison, while Ryan Williams added 10.

First Baptist 65,

Covenant 43

Bradley Steg’s 20 points led First Baptist to its first-round victory, while Clint Moore had 16 and Donnie Harris tossed in a dozen.

Gary Milstead led Covenant with 15 points, while Jonathan Jones had 13.

Living Waters 51,

First Assembly 33

Jeremiah Hodges’ 17 points led Living Waters, and included 13 in the first half of play. Mike Martin scored 14, while Chris Sparkman and Nick Ramsey had six each.

Fist Assembly’s top scorer had 13 points, although league scorekeepers failed to record his name.

In final regular-season games from Jan. 15:

Locust St. 47,

Covenant 17

Chris Hennessee’s 16 points led all scorers in a blowout for Locust Street, which got nine points from Casey Talbert and seven apiece from Kyle Mullican and Josh Moore.

Gary Milstead’s six points led Covenant, while Jerry Beatly and Cody Nabors scored four apiece.

Central 47,

Pioneer #2 39

Central’s Adam Wood had 13 points, while Isaac Slatton and Andy Southard scored 10 each.

Pioneer No. 2 was led by a dozen points from Josh Nunley, with John Templeton chipping in nine.

Pioneer #1 80,

First Assembly 50

Pioneer No. 1 closed out the season in style, with Brandon Adcock’s 29 points leading them past First Assembly. Randal Harrell added 18 and James Hines scored 14, all in the second half.

First Assembly’s Mike Lee led with 18 points, while Bo Ramsey had nine and Patrick Killian added eight.

Standings

Final Reg. Season

Team REC

Pioneer 1 8-1

Central 7-2

Locust St. 7-2

Living Waters 6-3

Pioneer 2 5-4

First Assembly 4-5

First Baptist 3-6

Apostolic Faith 3-6

Morrison 2-7

Covenant 0-9