The competition was fierce and the games were close. Each team in the Boys and Girls Club Tournament wanted the championship trophy, and they wanted it bad. Defending champions Woodlawn Elementary wanted to repeat, while Boys and Girls Club Main Site and Kennedy Elementary battled for the right to take away their crown.

All of these games were packed into one full day of basketball Saturday at Southwest Junior High. By the time late afternoon rolled around, four teams were left: Kennedy, Main Site, Woodlawn and Pinckney.

In the semifinal of the winner’s bracket, Kennedy blew past Main Site, 36-22, behind the strong play of their guard trio of Lamonte Ephriam, Rodney Robinson and Austen Twombley. On the other side of the bracket Woodlawn fought off elimination against Pinckney. Guard Jerome Miller lifted the defending champions and carried them one game closer to a repeat with a close 30-26 victory.

One of the most exciting games happened when Woodlawn battled Main Site for the right to tackle Kennedy in the championship. The losing team would just get to watch. The entire contest was tightly contested and boiled down to the final seconds of regulation when Miller heaved a desperation shot that fell through the net to force overtime.

“I was scared I was going to miss it, so I just let it go,” Miller said.

Kennedy hoists the championship trophy Saturday at Southwest Junior High. Kennedy defeated Woodlawn 36-22 for the title.

Woodlawn took the 35-32 victory in overtime as they held Main Site scoreless in the extra period.

There proved to be no rest for the weary. After playing two games with just a 10-minute break in between, Woodlawn had just another 15 minutes before battling Kennedy. And if they wanted to repeat as champions they would have to beat them not just once, but twice.

Once again, Kennedy ran on the strength of Ephriam, Robinson and Twombley, who combined for 24 of Kennedy’s 36 points.

“We played hard, hustled and scored,” Twombley said of the trio’s work. “We just did everything we had to do.”

On the other side of the ball, Miller led his team with 13 points while trying to get everyone involved. In the end Kennedy claimed the trophy with a 36-25 victory.

“I think we just got a little tired in the second half and fell apart a bit,” Woodlawn’s Patterson said.

Other key players included Noah Pfeifer and Tony Edwards for Kennedy, as well as Jordan Jacobs and Patterson for Woodlawn. Ephriam took home the Kennedy team MVP award, while Miller accepted the MVP for Woodlawn.

“It feels great,” Ephriam said. “We had great teamwork. Woodlawn’s really good, we were just a little better this time.”