The Bishop Ward Cyclones captured the McLouth Invitational Tournament trophy for the third consecutive year, defeating the Horton Chargers 53-46 Saturday evening.

The match-up was a repeat of last year’s tournament final that the Cylones won 58-36.

The teams were evenly matched through most of the first quarter, but Ward got two late breakaways from Tyler Holmes to hold a 13-9 lead at the buzzer.

Holmes continued his run as the second quarter opened, turning steals into fast-break offense and forcing a timeout from Chargers’ bench just a minute in.

Two straight Horton baskets steadied the team, but Ward later got six straight fast-break points from Holmes and Quintayvion Pike to take a nine point advantage.

Horton went on a five-point run, but Pike closed the first half with a three-pointer from the right corner for a 32-25 Ward lead.

The game tightened up in the third quarter as the intensity rose. Horton’s powerful Donte Masqua was hard to stop in the paint on either end and popped in two late baskets to bring the Chargers within four going into the fourth quarter.

Another Pike three-pointer opened the fourth quarter, and Holmes had two more fast break scores to keep the gap to the Chargers.

When Horton started to foul late in the game, the Cyclones were spotty at the free throw line, but kept their advantage and closed out the game with strong defense and canny clock management.

Holmes scored 21 points to lead all scorers, and Pike added 12. Jailen Jefferson and Gabriel De La Torre both dropped in nine.

Tyler Holmes and Noah Jensen were named to the all-tournament team.

The Lady Cyclones dropped their three games at the tournament, finishing with a 47-20 loss to Pleasant Ridge on Saturday morning.