MONTGOMERY CITY, Mo.—The Bowling Green Bobcats competed in the Montgomery County Invitational Tournament last week.

The Bowling Green Lady Cats opened the tournament against the Montgomery County Lady Wildcats, falling 57-31 in the first round. The Bowling Green boys took a loss to the Montgomery County Wildcats in the first round of the tournament with a score of 62-24.

In the consolation semi-final round, the Bobcats looked to rebound from their loss and take down New Haven. Bowling Green did just that as they beat the Shamrocks 57-32. Sophomore Jace Eskew had 20 points in the contest and Bleyne Bryant was throwing down monster dunks left and right. Marcus Starks threw down a dunk in the fourth quarter, but he got a technical foul after he did a pull-up on the rim after the slam. The Bobcats’ defense went to work against New Haven, as they forced the Shamrocks to have over 15 turnovers throughout the game. However, Bowling Green was committing a ton of fouls, which allowed the Shamrocks to get to the free-throw line more than ten times in the game. This win marks the third consecutive time that the Bobcats have defeated the Shamrocks, the last time being in 2017 in this same tournament.

The Lady Cats played Clopton Lady Hawks in the second round of the Montgomery County Invitational. The ladies fell just short of a win, as they dropped this contest 41-39. The back-and-forth game was a fantastic showing of improvements EMO Conference teams made in the off-season.

The Bowling Green boys were 1-1 going into their final game of the tournament against the Clopton Hawks. Clopton started out strong as Tyler Kuntz hit two threes in the first quarter along with a mid-range jumper to add to his total. Cash Eivins had a big first quarter with a few points of his own, as the Hawks looked to be in control of the game early. The Bobcats would not go away quietly, however, as Zach Gibson led the way for his team with 12 points on the night. Bowling Green was able to cut the lead down before halftime and headed into the locker room with a comeback in mind.

The second half began between the Bobcats and Hawks, Clopton continued from where they left off, as they were able to move the ball around for easy buckets. Bowling Green began to force the Hawks to turn the ball over, which allowed for easy opportunities to score. Bowling Green kept cutting the lead down more and more, until the Hawks started to score again, forcing the Bobcats to intentionally foul the Hawks, sending them to the line for easy points. Clopton would eventually take home the victory 60-51 to earn the consolation trophy.

The Bowling Green Lady Cats played in the seventh-place game against the Fulton Lady Hornets. The ladies would get their first win of the season as they defeated the Lady Hornets 43-33 to take seventh place.

The Fulton Hornets defeated the Mexico Bulldogs on the boy’s side of the bracket to take first place in the Montgomery County Invitational. The Hermann Lady Bearcats snuffed out a victory over the Lady Wildcats to stun Montgomery County in their own tournament and claim first place.

The Bowling Green Bobcats boys next game will be against the Fort Zumwalt East Lions, Tuesday, December 6, at home. The Lady Cats next game will be against the St. Louis Christian Knights, Thursday, December 8, at home as well. Come out and support your Bowling Green basketball teams this week, as they face two tough opponents.