Keigan Hall was too much to handle for the Mexico Bulldogs in a first-round game of the Montgomery County Invitational on Dec. 3.

The Wellsville-Middletown sophomore turned in the best performance of her brief high school basketball career against the Bulldogs, scoring 21 points to not only deny Mexico a second straight MCHS tournament championship, but help her team get out of the first round for the first time in 33 years. The Tigers won 39-25.

“I think we did pretty good,” Hall said. “We all worked together in that one.”

Hall went on to turn in an outstanding effort in the tournament, scoring a team-high 33 points in three games to help her earn a spot on the all-tournament team. She also helped the Tigers place fourth in the eight-team tournament, their highest finish since 1989.

“She’s just a sophomore and she’s undersized, but she’s athletic and strong,” W-M coach Todd Cripe said.

W-M lost to the New Haven Shamrocks 37-23 in the third-place game of the MCHS tournament. The sixth-seeded Tigers finished with 1-2 record at the tournament for the second year in a row.

“I thought our girls got better this week even though they were 1-2,” Cripe said.

Two days after beating Mexico, the Tigers fell to eventual champion Hermann 45-39 in the semifinals to advance to the third-place game against fifth-seeded New Haven.

With the win over W-M, the Shamrocks placed third for the second year in a row and earned a trophy. Trailing 5-4 after the first quarter, New Haven outscored the Tigers 13-4 in the second to take a 17-9 halftime lead it never relinquished.

“I’m not taking anything away from (New Haven) coach (Austin) Peirick,” Cripe said. “He did a great job attacking our zone and did some nice things on the backside that we haven’t seen a whole lot of. They finished when they needed to and knocked down some free throws.”

Against Mexico at the Montgomery County Middle School gymnasium, Hall scored 12 of her points in the second half to lift the Tigers to their first win of the season.

“Keigan had a great game,” Cripe said.

The last time the Tigers won a first-round game in the MCHS tournament was on Nov. 27, 1989, when they beat Hermann. They went on to place third.

“I knew it was a long time,” Cripe said. “I know it didn’t happen when I was here from 2007-2012. This is something we could build off of and we’ll get better.”

Hall also finished with nine points against Hermann and three against New Haven. Cripe said the sophomore turned in a strong rebounding effort in the tournament.

“In the first two games, she was a beast on the boards,” Cripe said. “She had over 20 boards in the second game against Hermann.”

Hall is one of seven returning players from last year’s team that finished with 11 victories and reached the district championship game. She said she has high hopes for her Tigers this winter.

“I think if we work hard enough and try our best, we could possibly win districts,” Hall said. “I think we’re going to do a lot better than last year because everyone has gotten better.”

Two other W-M players finished with double-digit efforts in the MCHS tournament. Sophomore Hallie Guzy scored 10 points – all of them in the second half – against New Haven and junior Jenelle Boeckelman scored 10 points with two 3-pointers against Hermann.