Hannah Delp led LCA in scoring with 12 points against Covenant Christian Saturday at the LCA Cougar Classic. (Photos by Mike Deak)

WINONA LAKE – Covenant Christian had the final say in defeating Lakeland Christian Academy in the last two games of the LCA Cougar Classic basketball tournament.

Covenant put together a huge first quarter in the girls game to down LCA, 38-25, while the LCA boys rallied with a big second half but fell short, 47-42, in the final game of Saturday’s portion of the two-day tournament at LCA.

In the girls matchup, Covenant broke out with a 17-3 bulge in the first quarter and made the effort stand up. The 14-point cushion was too much for the Lady Cougars to overcome as the Academy got no closer than 11 points the rest of the way.

Covenant’s Renae Buiter led the team with 12 points including a pair of threes. Hannah Delp paced the Cougars with 12 points and also hit a pair of treys. Carrie VanderMolen and Jennifer Heerema combined for 17 points to aid the victors while Hannah Remington and Morgan Holsclaw chipped in four points each for the hosts.

LCA (4-8) went 1-2 in the tournament, losing to Granger Christian 65-39 and beating South Bend Trinity 44-28 in Friday games.

Chris Silveus and the LCA boys could not muster enough to rally against Covenant Christian in the final game of the LCA Cougar Classic.

The Academy boys had a much closer contest, one which saw Covenant jump out to a 32-14 lead only for LCA to chip away and make a game of it in the fourth quarter. LCA outscored Covenant 30-20 in the second half, but shooting woes to the tune of 29 percent (15-51) from the floor including 9-29 from three was the difference.

Brandon Sheets led Covenant with 10 points and three steals while LCA had a pair in double figures in Cody Kline (14 points) and Connor Blum (10 points). Carter Twombly did a little bit of everything for the Cougars, recording five points, six rebounds, three assists and three steals before fouling out.

LCA (0-10) lost all three of its games in the tournament, falling to Clinton Christian 56-23 and South Bend Trinity 81-40 in Friday games.

Granger Christian won the girls’ team title by going 3-0. Mari Zeitlow of the champions was chosen as the MVP of the tourney. Hannah Delp of LCA was selected to the all-tourney team, along with Kylie Steele and Krista Kline of Granger Christian, Rachel Cramer of Trinity and Calli Beezhold of Covenant.

Clinton Christian claimed the boys’ championship after going 2-1 and winning the tiebreaker of least points allowed. Madison Yoder of Clinton was honored as the Tournament MVP. Chris Silveus of LCA was named to the all-tourney team, along with Emmanuel Black and Mark Havard of Trinity and Jake Bowers and Jason Kikkert of Covenant.

The girls’ tourney saw Granger Christian defeat LCA 65-39, Covenant 64-33 and Trinity 67-27. Covenant beat Trinity 43-26 and LCA 38-25 and LCA topped Trinity 44-28.

Clinton Christian beat LCA 56-23 and Trinity 67-61 and lost to Covenant 48-45 in the boys’ tourney. Trinity beat LCA 81-40 and Covenant 65-59 and Covenant topped LCA 47-42.

The LCA boys’ team is scheduled to play at Elkhart Christian Tuesday while the Lady Cougars will host Elkhart Christian Thursday.