LJHS Trojans take on the Mason City
Huskies in seventh grade boys division
[March 03, 2026]
The annual John Welsh Memorial Tournament took place this
weekend. Hosted by the Lincoln Junior High School, there were
approximately 180 teams that participated with several teams being
from out of the area. The tournament is a big event in Lincoln each
year, offering an economic boost to local motels, eateries and
retail businesses. With a minimum of six members per team and those
young players often accompanied by parents or guardians, the influx
of people in the community runs into the thousands.
Games began on Saturday morning and continued until late Sunday
afternoon.
To accommodate so many teams in grade levels from third to eighth,
every gymnasium in Lincoln is utilized.
This year games were played at Carroll Catholic School, Central
School, Chester East-Lincoln, Lincoln Junior High, Lincoln Community
High School, Washington-Monroe School, West Lincoln Broadwell, Zion
Lutheran, Lincoln Park District, Open Arms Church, and for the first
time since its closing, the Lincoln College Lincoln Center.
The tournament is open to both girls’ and boys’ teams, with the
boys’ slightly outnumbering the girls.
With so many teams and venues involved, LDN couldn’t cover every
game over the weekend. Matt Boutcher grabbed some quick shots
Saturday at 2 p.m. fourth grade boys South Division game featuring
the Morton Heat versus EPYBA. The Heat won that game and ended the
weekend with one win and one loss. EPYBA went 0-2. The division
champions were the Ball Hogg Academy.
LDN also attended Lincoln College’s Lincoln Center for the 11 a.m.
Sunday game featuring two local teams, the LJHS seventh grade
Trojans and the Mason City Huskies.
The two teams were almost equal when it comes to stature, with both
teams having some taller players and several smaller players. What
was fun, throughout the game, was seeing the speed and agility of
the little guys. While we often think that height is an asset in
basketball, the Huskies and the Trojans both had shorter players who
moved like lightning down the court with great control on the ball.
The Huskies seem to have the handle on sinking baskets. It felt like
every time they went to the hoop it was all net all the time. They
were also very good at making the three-point shots, proven when
they scored the first three-pointer 41 seconds into the first
quarter.
The Huskies took the lead and held on to it throughout the first
half of the game.
On the other side of the coin, they outnumbered the Trojans on
fouls, giving the Lincoln team multiple opportunities at the
free-throw line.
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By the end of the first quarter the Huskies were leading the Trojans
22-12, and it felt like the game might be heavily sided toward the
Mason City team.
In the second quarter, Lincoln picked up their game and gained 13
points in the 10-minute quarter but were still falling short with
the Huskies leading 34-25.
However, after the half, the Trojans came back to the court on fire,
and the battle that ensued was fun and exciting. Eight minutes and
25 seconds into the third quarter, the Trojan come-back brought the
team to a tie with the Huskies at 39-39.
The fourth quarter then proved to be a battle with the teams tying,
the Trojans leading, the Huskies leading, and many of the spectators
sitting at the edge of their seats calling out words of
encouragement to their favorite team. The battle ensued right down
to the buzzer and ended in a tied game 52-52.
The clock was reset with a two-minute overtime, and the battle for
the win was a tough one. Both teams were hungry, and they both
played very well. However in the end it was the Huskies that
finished the game winning with a score of 55-54 at the buzzer.
This loss would take the Trojans out of the championship playoffs.
The Trojans went 2 and 1 for the tournament, defeating CCTW-Alexander
35-29 on Saturday and the Raiders 37-35 on Sunday morning in the
hour prior to the Huskies game.
To see the results from each grade and gender level and the
championship winner in that division,
click here.
[Nila Smith]
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