Golden Eagles claim tournament title

By Jacob Meikel

Home court advantage served Bishop LeBlond boys basketball well, as the Golden Eagles win the Bishop LeBlond Holiday Tournament on Monday in a 58-46 win over Nodaway Valley.

Riding an eight-game winning streak heading into Monday’s championship, the Golden Eagles survived a late-game scare from Maysville, a team that performed as if it should have belonged in the championship to face LeBlond.

However, the team that came out of the bottom half of the bracket to face the 10-1 Golden Eagles, the Nodaway Valley Thunder, proved to be a worthy competitor as well, at least for the early portion on Monday’s championship.

The two teams traded blows in the first quarter. Two lead changes and one tie thanks to a buzzer-beater from Nodaway Valley senior Lane Larabee summed up the first eight minutes of a competitive first quarter.

Nodaway Valley trailed by just two points at halftime, but the second half would be the time when LeBlond put a stop to the Thunder’s hopes of stealing a tournament title from the Golden Eagles on their home floor. LeBlond outscored Nodaway 17-10 in the third quarter, and 17-14 in the fourth quarter.

The Golden Eagles claimed their ninth win in a row with the victory on Monday night while also improving their record to 11-1.