Cairo Boys Win Salisbury Tournament, South Shelby Girls Take Consolation – Rest Postponed

The Cairo boys captured the Salisbury Invitational championship while the South Shelby girls won the consolation title Friday. Four other games were postponed due to weather.

Cairo defeated host Salisbury 67-52. The Panthers grabbed a 33-31 lead early in the third, but the Bearcats provided a quick response.

Junior Bryce Taylor’s triple sparked a 7-0 run three minutes into the third. 10-1 Cairo later led 47-42 after three, then built a big advantage in the middle of the fourth. Bearcats head coach Nic Zenker explained what changed in the second half.

Zenker’s senior Jacob Davis scored 19 and dominated both the glass and defensive paint. Kenny Wyatt’s 8-4 Salisbury squad played close for three and a half quarters after the Panthers lost to the Bearcats by 24 three weeks ago.

Three Panthers finished with 12. Salisbury visits Paris Tuesday, and Cairo travels to Sturgeon Tuesday.

In the girls consolation game, the South Shelby Ladybirds outscored the Cairo Lady Bearcats in every quarter on their way to a 55-44 victory. Freshman Kaylee Gaines led a balanced attack with 17 points. Her final basket put a capper on the game.

Fellow freshman Miranda Patterson joined Gaines in double-figures with 12 points. A total of nine Ladybirds found the scoresheet in the game. South Shelby coach Luke O’Laughlin said it was a solid performance from his young team.

Cairo’s Taegan Bartolacci led all scorers with 22 points. This included her scoring the first five points of the game in the first 25 seconds. However, Cairo coach Brian Winkler said South Shelby’s defense made things very difficult the rest of the night.

Cairo falls to 7-4 on the season. Meanwhile, South Shelby improves to 5-6 and will host Knox County Monday. You can hear full postgame interviews with all the coaches below.

Cairo boys coach Nic Zenker:

Salisbury boys coach Kenny Wyatt:

South Shelby girls coach Luke O’Laughlin

Cairo girls coach Brian Winkler