IMPERIAL • For Windsor coach Todd Dutton, the opening round game of the Seckman Holiday Tournament had some extra significance.
Dutton's No. 4 seeded Owls were taking on No. 5 seeded Francis Howell North. The Vikings' are the defending tournament champions and Dutton was an assistant coach there last season.
On Tuesday, Windsor (5-5) secured a 67-66 victory by nailing its foul shots. The squad sank 24-of-29 on the afternoon.
"It was fun for me," Dutton said. "I got to see some guys I spent a lot of time with."
The win advances them to Wednesday's semifinals where they face No. 1 seeded Summit at 3 p.m. Joe Siudzinski pumped in 24 points for the Owls while Ian Asher added 13 in the win
"Any time you can move East in a tournament, that's what you want to do," Dutton said. "I thought we did a lot of good things out there."
The Knights (1-7) move on to the consolation round where they will take on Seckman at noon on Wednesday. Kyle Lemons scored 28 points for Howell North. Ryan Jeppesen added 13.
"Sometimes I question if they want to win," Howell North coach Bill Moyer said. "I need to find a button to push. We need to find our heart and desire."
The Owls took a 44-43 lead into the fourth quarter. Siudzinski's bucket in the lane made it 58-52 before the Knights came back. Lemons tied the game at 58 with two free throws with a little over two minutes to play.
But Anel Ganic, Asher, and Siudzinski were all clutch from the line to secure the win.
The Knights trailed 36-28 at halftime but put together a 15-8 run in the third quarter, including nine points from Lemons in the period.
Windsor took seized control of the game in the second quarter when it built on to its 18-14 lead.
Siudzinski scored on back-to-back drives to the bucket while Asher hit from the outside to make it 31-21. Callen Hall gave the Knights a spark to end the half and cut the advantage to 34-28 with 43 seconds left.
In other opening round games,
Summit 86, Seckman 29
The top-seeded Falcons had no trouble in its tournament opener, exploding for 34 points in the first quarter and took a 54-16 lead into the locker room at halftime. Three Falcons reached double figures and 13 scored in the game as Nick Bamvakais scored 16, James Crockett added 15, and Blake Dryer chipped in 12.
Seckman was led by Matt Harvey's eight points.
