EDWARDSVILLE – Braden Woolsey had 24 points and Noah Coddington 18 as Metro East Lutheran closed out pool play in the MEL Thanksgiving Turkey Tip-Off Classic by defeating Marissa 66-55 at Hooks Gym Wednesday night.
The Knights closed out their pool by going undefeated and moving into the Gold Bracket when bracket play gets under way Friday morning; the Knights moved to 2-0 on the season with the win.
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MEL took an 18-12 lead on the Meteors at quarter time and expanded it to 32-19 at the long break before running out winners on the night.
JJ Schwartz added 12 points for the Knights and A.J. Risavy scored nine. Marissa was led by Kyle Smith's 26 points and Tony Stoddard's 23.
MEL takes on Gillespie at 1 p.m. Friday at Hooks Gym as Gold Bracket play begins; the winner meets Marquette Catholic at 7 p.m. Friday, with the final set for 7:30 p.m. Saturday.
VALMEYER 65, METRO EAST LUTHERAN JV 30: Valmeyer got out to a 28-8 quarter-time lead and went on to defeat the Metro East Lutheran JV team 65-30 as pool play concluded in the MEL Thanksgiving Turkey Tip-Off Classic Wednesday evening.
The loss put the Knight JV at 0-2 on the year and placed them in the Bronze Bracket of bracket play for the weekend.
Damonte Bean led the Knights with nine points, with Jason Williams adding five and Cooper Krone and Will Barney getting four each. The Pirates were led by Vaughn Larsen and Phillip Reinhardt each had 12 points, with Cole Julefs scored 11 and Owen Miller had 10.
MEL's JV meet East Alton-Wood River at noon Friday in the auxiliary gym, with the winner meeting Bunker Hill at 7:30 p.m. Friday in the auxiliary gym.
