PORUM — The Gore Pirates and Lady Pirates each split their first two games in the Cross Telephone Invitational Tournament.

The Pirates opened with a 52-19 rout of Gans in last Wednesday night’s opening-round game, but they lost 4440 to Hulbert last Thursday night.

The Pirates were slated to face Strother for third place last Friday, but the game was canceled due to the Yellowjackets having travel issues.

The Lady Pirates lost their opening-round game 40-39 to Strother last Wednesday, but they bounced back with a 39-27 win last Thursday afternoon against Weleetka.

The Lady Pirates were slated to meet Gans for the consolation championship last Friday.

In the boys’ win over Gans, the Pirates (10-6) put away the game early, jumping out to a 19-1 lead after a quarter and were never threatened.

For the game, Gore put a trio of players into double figures, led by Cain Cooper’s gamehigh 12 points, followed by 10 points apiece from Tate Brooksher and Keeton Rowe. Eli Munson scored nine points, followed by Kaiden Denton with six points, Benson Hunt with three points and Cruze Duke with two points.

In the boys’ loss to Hulbert, the Pirates fell behind 30-17 at halftime and 40-27 after three quarters, but they made a valiant comeback attempt as they outscored the Riders 13-4 in the final period but came up short.

In defeat, Cooper scored a game-high 16 points to lead Gore, followed by Munson with nine points, Rowe with eight points and Brooksher with seven points.

In the girls’ loss to Strother, the Lady Yellowjackets, who trailed 34-28 after three quarters, outscored the Lady Pirates 12-5 in the final period to get the comefrom- behind victory. In defeat, Kennedy Williams scored a gamehigh 16 points and Emily Daily added 14 points to lead the Lady Pirates (8-6), followed by Gracie Bruce with six points and River Shoemake with three points.

In the girls’ victory over Weleetka, the Lady Pirates jumped out to a 14-4 lead after a quarter, which became a 22-10 halftime advantage and a 32-19 lead going into the final period.

For the game, Shoemake scored a gamehigh 15 points and Williams added 11 points to lead Gore, followed by Daily and Rayleigh Moore with five points each, Sophie O’Connor with two points and Kylie “K.J.” McEver with a free throw.

Editor’s Note: Look for the details about last Friday’s Gore girls’ game in the Cross Telephone Invitational in next week’s edition.