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Jackie Ammons Tournament starts at 6:00 PM Friday
The 12th annual Jackie Ammons Memorial Tournament gets underway Friday night with Concordia-Moorhead tipping off against Guilford College at 6:00 PM. The nightcap features the Salem Spirits taking on the host Peace Pacers.
The tournament is named in honor of the late Jackie Ammons, who starred at East Wake High School and Peace College before a car crash claimed her life just a few days before her graduation from Peace.
Last year Peace claimed the championship with a 61-43 win over the Maine Maritime Academy. Salem, which also participated in last year’s tournament, lost in the consolation round to Hartwick College, 77-56.
Peace tries to defend its championship with a young team, which has just five returnees from a season ago and nine players overall.
Tuesday night the Pacers suffered a 46-39 defeat at the hands of the Barber-Scotia Lady Sabers. Peace was done in by cold shooting, as it made just 12-45 shots from the field. The Pacers were able to stay close in the first half, but a 14-0 spurt by the visitors at the start of the third quarter was too much for Peace to overcome.
Junior Rachel Lyons hit 3-of-6 shots and tallied eight points to lead the Pacers in scoring. Freshman Callie Yohn grabbed 10 rebounds and had two blocks. Lyons and sophomore Crystal Alston tied for the team lead with two assists.
Concordia-Moorhead will be appearing in its first game of the season in the tournament. The program has won two national championships, including the 1988 NCAA Division III title. The Cobbers have a young team, but they are deep and have excellent height, with four players listed at 6’0 and above.
Guilford was picked second in the ODAC by coaches in the annual preseason poll. The Quakers have four starters back from last year’s squad. In their first game of the season, they led for three quarters before falling to nationally-ranked Greensboro in the Pride’s home gym.
Salem was picked seventh in the preseason GSAC poll. In its opening game of the season, the Spirits were on the short end of a 66-36 score to the Methodist Monarchs.
The Jackie Ammons Tournament is a two-day affair, with the winners from Friday meeting in the championship game Saturday afternoon. Each team will play two games in the tournament, as a consolation game will be held prior to the title game on Saturday.
An all-tournament team will be selected after the conclusion of the championship game on Saturday.
