GOSHEN – There was just enough pomp to make a circumstance. But for the most part, the era of the ‘RedHawk’ was ushered in without much to-do.

Saturday’s Hacienda Holiday Tournament hosted by Goshen High School wasn’t meant to be more than a girls basketball tournament to get teams back into the swing of things after the holiday break. And Goshen treated it as such, and then some, in a pair of convincing wins. Goshen trounced New Haven, 72-33, and South Bend Clay, 63-37, to win the tournament title.

Goshen’s Kyrie Potter hit this attempt to open Goshen’s impressive run at the Hacienda Holiday Tournament. (Photos by Mike Deak)

Wearing ‘RedHawk Rising’ T-shirts during shoot-around and white shorts with ‘Goshen’ down the leg and a small RedHawk logo on the end of the short, Goshen’s look hadn’t changed much. RedHawks now lined the jersey tops, but wasn’t gaudy or exaggerated.

With the exception of ‘Redskin Nation’ replaced with ‘RedHawk Nation’ on the west wall, and the giant chief moved to a quieter resting place outside the gym, not much else was noticeable. Goshen let its play ring in the new year, and a mighty bell it was.

Kyrie Potter made it official right away, scoring the first basket on Goshen’s first possession. Ashton Ellis and Tahya Bruce then drilled three-pointers. Goshen jumped out to an immediate 12-0 lead as New Haven had barely tucked in its purple jerseys. A 25-point first quarter was followed up by a 20-point second quarter. Leading 45-11 at the half, Goshen head coach Lenny Krebs admitted he was pretty impressed.

“I think the girls were focused and ready to play,” began Krebs. “I think we just continued our momentum from that win against Fort Wayne Carroll (Dec. 19), and we just wanted to keep it going. How much of it was the RedHawk mascot thing coming into it, only the girls will know. But I do know they wanted to play well and get that first win as a RedHawk.

“We closed well as Redskins and opened well as RedHawks. It doesn’t matter what you put at the end of Goshen, these girls want to represent themselves well no matter what you call us.”

Ashton Ellis helped Goshen overwhelm New Haven 25-6 in the first quarter.

Goshen would get all 11 of its players on the scoresheet in the New Haven win, led by 14 points from Olivia Love. Bruce finished with 12 and Alyssa Hershberger and Jill Kissinger each scored 11.

Aylissa Trosper had possibly the biggest game of her career in the nightcap against Clay, scoring 21 points. Potter tossed in 13 points and Love netted 11 more. Bruce finished with 10 points as Goshen moves to 12-3 on the season.

Wrapping up the Hacienda Holiday Tournament, Clay made the final by holding off DeKalb 37-27. Clay led by as many as 19 points in the second half, only for DeKalb to cut the lead to eight in the fourth quarter. In the varsity consolation, DeKalb hammered New Haven 67-30.

In the JV tournament, Goshen won the technical first game in RedHawk Nation history, beating New Haven 44-12 ahead of the varsity matchups. DeKalb beat Clay 43-15, setting up Goshen’s 36-24 win over DeKalb in the championship game. Clay beat New Haven in the consolation game 40-22.

The All-Tournament Team was Trosper, Ellis and Love of Goshen; Lindsey Batteast and Mykala Baylor of South Bend Clay; and DeKalb’s Leigha Brown, who scored 30 points in the two games, was named Tournament MVP.

The official mark of the mascot change for Goshen High School and Goshen Middle School came as the ball dropped in Times Square, as 12 midnight Friday morning ‘RedHawks’ became the official new nickname. The decision was made official in November. Goshen High School wrestler Derek Paz was the last official athlete to represent the school as a Redskin in competition, battling to a second-place finish in the 220-pound bracket at Wednesday’s championship rounds of the Al Smith Invite.