Harlem 8th grade basketball wins holiday tournament

ROCKFORD – After a disappointing cancellation in Sterling, Harlem Middle School (HMS) Orange played in their first tournament of the season at Auburn High School on Nov. 27. Harlem started the day off against Marshall Middle School.

After starting off hot, HMS went into the half down 16-22. Starting the day’s trend with a strong, 16-point, third quarter, HMS squeezed by with a 3-point victory to advance to the semi-finals. (Harlem-43 Marshall-40)

In the semi-finals, HMS played against Dundee Middle School. In a hot start, James Akers scored all 7 first-quarter points for the Huskies.

Down 13-17 at the half, the Huskies came out with a strong third quarter to take a 24-20 lead and never looked back. Harlem would advance to the championship game with a 37-29 win.

In the championship game HMS would face Jay Stream. To start the game, it seemed like the baskets were covered with lids. Jay Stream led at the end of the first quarter, 6-4. After a similarly slow second quarter, HMS was down 15-12 at the half.

One key highlight to the first half was Cadence Hecox 8 blocks that excited both his bench and the fans.

Coming out of the half strong, as they did all day, HMS jumped to a 27-21 lead going into the fourth quarter.

HMS would continue their strong second half and go on to win the 2015 Turkey Shootout Championship by a score of 37-29. Jayden Gray led the way for the Huskies with 5 timely 3 pt. baskets helping him to score 27 points for the day.

Cadence Hecox also made the most of his scoring opportunities with 28 points for the day. As a whole, HMS played a great day of basketball!

Courtesy photo

Harlem Middle School Orange basketball team won the Turkey Shootout championship at Auburn High School on Nov. 27.