By John DeCoste
The Central Kings D-2 boys’ basketball team got its season off to a positive start, going undefeated to win its Lew Murphy’s Tip-Off tournament Nov. 16-17.
The host Gators went 3-0 with wins over West Kings, Kings-Edgehill and Shelburne.
Shelburne finished the tournament at 2-1, Kings-Edgehill 1-2 and West Kings at 0-3.
In their opener Nov. 16, Central Kings topped West Kings 80-54. Nigel Simmons led the way for the Gators with 21, Trent Oickle had 20 and Kurt Getson 19.
Christian Hill led all scorers with 26 for West Kings, and Griffin Reid added 11.
After Shelburne opened with a 78-66 win over Kings-Edgehill, the Windsor school then met Central Kings, which once again won easily, this time by a 78-54 score, in the final game of the evening.
Simmons, who had a fine tournament, finished with 29 for the Gators, Oickle added 20 for a second straight game, and Getson chipped in 14. Austin Wong had 18 and Jeff Lin 13 for Kings-Edgehill.
Play resumed Nov. 17, with Shelburne outlasting West Kings 74-67. Doug Poole finished with 22 and Andrew Hemeon 20 for Shelburne, while Hill had 25 and Devon Parent 10 for West Kings.
Central Kings then met Shelburne, with the Gators emerging victorious by a 72-53 score to improve to 3-0.
Simmons again led the way for CK with 22 points, Oickle added 19, Getson 11 and Jonah Leschied 10. Poole had 20 and Hemeon 15 for Shelburne.
The final game of the tournament featured West Kings versus Kings-Edgehill, with Kings-Edgehill winning 62-53. Dean Pan led Kings-Edgehill with 18 points, while Hill had 20 for West Kings.
