The East St. Louis Flyers won their fifth consecutive Salem Invitational Tournament on Saturday, January 20, beating the Orphans 45-37. Centralia’s record stands at 21-2 on the season. Michael Organ led the Orphans with 11 points in the loss. Dustyn Collins and Devin Meier each had 8, Cruz Harlan scored 6 and Logan Meier had 4.
The Mt. Vernon Rams defeated the Salem Wildcats in the third place game 44-31, while Carbondale took the consolation championship, beating Champaign Central 59-50.
Davis Bynum of the Flyers took home the MVP trophy. First team all-tournament honors also went to Robert McCline and Taylor Powell of the Flyers; along with Navontae Nesbit, Jr. of Mt. Vernon; Cruz Harlan of Centralia and DeCarl Payne of Carbondale.
All-tournament second team picks included Salem’s Connor Tennyson and Gavin Zimmermann, Jerrance Howard of Carbondale, Daryle Jones of Centralia and Cale Maurer of Mount Vernon.
No team has won five consecutive Salem Invitational Tournaments since Centralia accomplished the feat in 1961-1965.
Next on the Orphans’ schedule will be a Friday night game at Cahokia followed by a match up against Teutopolis at the Pinckneyville Panther Showcase on Saturday.
