‘18 is just the third new alumni champ in last 20 seasons
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Class of 2018’s Henry Penner puts up a floater over 2002’s Casey Carlson during the Aurora alumni tournament finals.
For the just the third time since 2003, there’s a new champion of the Aurora alumni tournament.
A huge second-half rally from the Class of 2018 was enough to topple the Class of 2002, 53-40 in the finals of the 33rd annual Bill Kropp and Curly Penner Aurora alumni basketball tournament Sunday afternoon.
The 16-time champions of 2002 got off to a red-hot start, going up 10-2 in the first few minutes of the game before 2018 began to settle in.
Henry Penner piloted the 2018 offense, finding scoring opportunities with Caden Schuster and Lukas Pohlmann behind the arc.
The 2002 lead was sliced to 18-15 before the likes of Cody Hoegh, Brock Wyatt and Brandon Handrup helped the veterans hold a 29-25 lead.
Penner got going quickly in the second half with a couple stepback jumpers while there was no answer for Schuster’s offense in the paint.
The Class of 2018 got up by 10 midway through the second half and there was no response from the defending champs.
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