Mater Dei edges Nashville in tournament championship game

The championship game of the 59th Annual Mater Dei Christmas Tournament on Monday featured an enticing pairing of the top two seeds.

And the match-up did not disappoint, as the host Knights, seeded No. 2, outlasted top seed Nashville 47-44 to claim the tourney title. In the process, Mater Dei posted its sixth-straight win to improve to 12-3. The Hornets, winners of eight of nine games entering the championship contest, dropped to 11-3.

Nashville led 8-4 after one quarter and 22-21 at halftime. The Hornets still maintained a slim 29-28 margin after three quarters, before the Knights outscored them 19-15 the final eight minutes.

In previous tournament action, Mater Dei knocked off Highland 66-38, Red Bay (Alabama) 52-33, Okawville 47-41, and Mascoutah 55-36.

Against Highland, Caleb Zurliene led the Knights with 26 points, while Grant Goebel had 13 points and Jacob Schadegg posted 11 points. Schadegg led the way against Red Bay with 16 points, with Zurliene adding 12 points and Mitchell Haake 11. After knocking off the Rockets, Mater Dei methodically took down Mascoutah, leading 26-17 at halftime and outscoring the Indians 16-8 in the final quarter.

Meanwhile, Nashville upended Metro-East Lutheran 48-43, Doss (Kentucky) 50-43, Wesclin 39-22 and Breese Central 48-30 in tourney action.

Carson Parker and Terry Pelczynski led the way against Metro-East Lutheran with 22 and 13 points, respectively. Parker had 18 points and Jaxon Goforth added 13 points in the win against Doss, Kentucky, before the Hornets dispatched Wesclin. Against the Cougars, Pelczynski notched 15 points, and Tristen Hercules contributed 12 points.

Other tournament action Monday at Mater Dei

• Third place game: Doss (Kentucky) 62, Mascoutah 59. The Indians dropped to 6-5.
• Fifth place game: Okawville 33, Breese Central 31. The Rockets improved to 7-4, while the Cougars fell to 5-8.
• Ninth place game: Metro-East Lutheran 60, Highland 44. The Knights improved to 4-9, while the Bulldogs dropped to 2-12.
• Seventh place game: Wesclin 37, Red Bay (Alabama) 36. The Warriors improved to 6-7.