Fort Frye’s Grady Hesson pulls up for a jumper as Tyler Consolidated’s Cam Strode (1) contests during the River City Classic Saturday at Ban Johnson Arena. (Photo by Mike Morrison)

Last year’s contest at the River City Classic was so good between Tyler Consolidated and Fort Frye that the two teams decided to square off against one another once again in this year’s Classic.

In one of the very best games of the first two days of the weekend, Fort Frye downed the Silver Knights 77-73 to remain undefeated on the season (6-0).

The Cadets jumped out to an early 6-0 lead but once the Silver Knights caught up the game went back and forth the rest of the way.

Late in the fourth quarter the Cadets did manage to pull out to a four-point lead and then relied on the free throw shooting of Wyatt Duskey down the stretch to secure the win.

Duskey made six consecutive clutch free throws in the closing minute of the game which helped him to share Cadet Player of The Game honors with Grady Hesson.

Hesson scored nine points for the winners while Aiden Brooks and Caden Henniger reached double-figures with 15 and 10 points, respectively.

The Cadets got some strong play off of the bench out of big man Terry Tompkins who added seven points.

The Knights knocked down 11 three-pointers in the game while the Cadets did not make a single three.

Landon Boggs earned MVP honors for Tyler Consolidated after knocking down six three-pointers and finishing with a game-high 26 points.

Cam Strode added 14 points for the Silver Knights, who slipped to 1-4 on the season with the loss.

The Cadets will look to keep their perfect start alive Monday when they welcome the Caldwell Redskins.

Girls: Laurel 46, Fort Frye 40

The Laurel Gators held off a furious fourth quarter rally by Fort Frye to claim a 46-40 win over the Cadets.

The Gators led by 17 points halfway through the final quarter before the Cadets came charging back thanks to the hot hand of junior Ella Dowler.

Dowler made 14 points in the final quarter alone including nine from behind the arc as the Cadets closed the Laurel lead to a single possession late in the game.

Dowler’s triple with less than 20 seconds left on the clock closed the Gator lead to 42-40, but Nyla Edwards made four consecutive free throws for Laurel to pretty much seal the deal and send the previously unbeaten Cadets down to their first loss of the season.

Edwards captured Player of The Game honors for the Gators by scoring a team-high 12 points while also grabbing five rebounds and dishing out three assists.

Reese Grammes finished with 11 points, four assists and five steals for the Gators who improved to 6-3 on the season.

Dowler led all scorers with 26 points while no other Cadet scorer scored more than four points.

The loss is the first of the season for the Cadets, who slipped to 9-1.

Fort Frye will have a bit of time off to regroup and heal as they are off until Saturday when they travel to Shenandoah.

Boys: Warren 75, Parkersburg Catholic 47

The Parkersburg Catholic Crusaders got off to a great start as they scored the first seven points of the game but that stretch would be one of their few highlights as they fell to the Warren Warriors 75-47 at the River City Classic.

Warren (3-5) got an outstanding game from sophomore Jackson Perdue as he poured in 32 points to lead the way for the winners.

Perdue did most of his damage by driving and slashing his way to the basket as the Crusaders could not seem to find an answer for him.

The Warriors managed to overcome that red-hot start by the Crusaders as they took a one-point lead at the end of the first quarter and then out-pointed Catholic 22-9 in the second quarter to take a double-digit lead into the intermission.

Warren only added to its lead with a 26-point third quarter and pulled away the rest of the way to improve to 3-5 on the season.

The Warriors shot a perfect 13-of-13 from the foul line in the game.

Shawn Adams added nine points for the Blane Maddox-coached Warriors while Blake Grimes and Caleb Tulius added eight apiece.

Hudson Elzey chipped in with seven points for the winners including a pair from behind the arc.

Perdue earned Player of The Game honors for the Warriors while Carter Nelson took home the honors for the Crusaders by tossing in a game-high 13 points.