By Chris Brennaman / Assistant Sports Editor
Tournament scoreboard
The Meridian Lady Wildcats dominated the Lauderdale County Tournament, taking home the trophy on the girls' side of the competition.
In the round-robin affair, the Lady Cats did not allow a goal against Southeast, Northeast and West Lauderdale.
Meridian's only goal against the Lady Tigers came from Nichola Crenshaw.
Madeline Griffin and Khalyn Harmon — both seventh-graders — scored in the West Lauderdale game, while eighth-grader Meme Huff notched a goal in the finale against Northeast.
"We have a very young team," said Meridian coach Melissa Crouch, whose team is now 3-0 after the season-opening tournament. "This is a good way to get the season started. I'm proud of how hard the girls have worked. It really starts the season out on the right foot."
Second place went to the Lady Tigers, who finished 1-1-1 with the Meridian loss, a 2-0 win over West Lauderdale and a scoreless tie against Northeast.
The other game for the Lady Trojans — against West Lauderdale — also ended in a 0-0 tie. Neither team scored any goals in the tournament.
In the boys' matches, Northeast finished with a 2-0-1 record to edge Meridian — which went 2-1 on the day — for the tournament title.
The Trojans' started the morning by beating Southeast 2-0 on goals by Roger Castellanos and Kip Courtney. Assists were credited to Dylan Brown and Wright Hobgood.
James Cranmore scored an unassisted goal in the Meridian game — a 2-1 win for Northeast. Hobgood again recorded an assist as he fed Matt Kiefer on a second-half goal.
Hobgood — who also serves as the kicker for the Trojan football team — got in on the scoring in the final game. He netted both goals for Northeast in a 2-2 tie against West Lauderdale.
"I'm proud of our guys," said NEL coach James Mathews. "Coming in, I thought we would be lucky to win one game. We haven't had a lot of time together as a whole team with some of the players just finishing up with football.
"This tournament really helps set up the season. If you can come out of here with a winning record, it gives you a boost for the rest of the year."
Meridian beat Southeast 1-0 and West Lauderdale 2-0.
The Knights downed SEL — which was shut out in all three games — 2-0.
