TRINIDAD — After cruising to wins over Custer County and John Mall, Manitou Springs topped Tri-Peaks rival La Junta 65-29 to claim the Trinidad State Junior College Invitational championship on Saturday.
Davyn Adamscheck led the Manitou scoring effort with 20 points which included shooting 80 percent from the free throw line.
“In football we saw them, and just to come out and beat them right away is a good start to the season,” he said.
The Mustangs (3-0 overall) jumped out to a quick 12-5 lead after the first quarter and would only build on the gap as the game went on.
The Tigers (2-1) recorded wins over Primero and Raton (New Mexico) to advance to the championship game, but the Mustangs, who came into the game as the fifth-ranked team in Class 3A CHSAANow.com boys basketball polls, proved to be too much to handle.
Lucas Rodholm and Cole Sienknecht earned all-tournament honors for the Mustangs. La Junta’s John Nuschy was also selected to the team.
“We have a pretty good idea of what our first group can do,” Manitou coach Ken Vecchio said. “We thought (this tournament) would be a good opportunity to develop a little bit off the bench. I thought some guys played pretty well for three nights coming off the bench.”
Manitou and La Junta will meet again on Jan. 6 for a scheduled Tri-Peaks League showdown.
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