It was the 16th year for the DiFranco Tip-Off Tournament, and it was a good one. With strong defense the Elyria Catholic Panthers found themselves hoisting the tournament trophy in just their first appearance. To hear any of the weekends games. Click on the scores below.

In the opening game of the DiFranco Tip-Off Tournament, Elyria Catholic’s edged out Keystone 66-54 to advance to Saturday’s Championship game. EC’s Jake Kuchta and Doug Taylor each tallied 18 points to lead the Panthers offense. On defense, the Panthers had a strong showing forcing 25 turnovers and holding the Wildcats to just 59 percent from the field.

Midview’s defense was deciding factor Friday night in the Middies 55-34 win over Columbia in the opening round of the DiFranco Tournament. Garret Overy sparked the  Middies defensive charge holding Columbia’s David Delahunty to just 10 points in the contest. On the offensive side of the ball Damion Mahone lit the host team’s fire scoring 18 points and pulling down 14 rebounds in the win.

Saturday’s play started with Keystone defeating Columbia 44-17 in the DiFranco Tip-Off Tournament consolation game. While the Radiers were strong from the three-point line matching the tournament record with 9 baskets from behind the arc, Keystone found success in the paint with Austin Conrad who led all scorers in the game with 20 points.

The tournament’s championship game went down to the wire before the Elyria Catholic Panthers were crowned the 2015 DiFranco Tip-Off Champions with a 55-52 win over Midview. Darin Guice led the Panthers with 13 points, but once again it was the Panthers defense that took the spotlight. In the final seconds of the game Elyria Catholic held off a drive led by Midview’s Damion Mahone to capture the victory.