Covington High captured the Grace King Tournament Saturday, downing cross town and district rival Mandeville, 68-57, in the championship game.

Phillip Bickham was named the tournament MVP, and Jordan Bedford was selected to the all-tournament team.

Bedford tallied a championship game-high 24 points followed by Bickham’s 21 to lead the Lions past the Skippers.

Jason Maxwell

CHS second-year coach Michael Smith said Saturday was a big win for his club.

“I think it proves that we are going to be a real threat in our district. My players are working hard and are serious about being winners this year,” Smith said.

Also in the tournament, Pearl River senior Jacob Maxwell surpassed the 1,000-point plateau in his team’s second game of the event. After scoring 73 points (24.3 average) in the competition, he has 1,042 career points.

PRHS coach Jason Rogers said he’s proud of Maxwell’s accomplishment.

“He’s our captain,” Rogers said. “He’s a quiet leader. When he walks into the gym on game night, he’s ready to play. The other teams are well aware of who he is. The numbers he puts up are a testament to how good he is.”

CHS defeated the Pearl River Rebels, 74-65, Thursday night.

Maxwell led PRHS with 28 points, while Chris Simon posted 14 and Eric Mavor had nine. CHS followed that with an 80-68 victory Friday over the host Grace King.

Mandeville’s Jordane Ganapamo, who was named to the all-tournament team along with teammate Josh Priola, delivered 21 points in the championship game against CHS. Zach Adema finished with 12 points, and Timmy Tryforos added nine. MHS led 27-19 at the half but was outscored by CHS 35-17 in the third quarter. Mandeville coach John Priola described Covington as a very athletic team.

“They couldn’t miss in the second half and took it to us,” Priola said.

MHS opened Thursday by downing De La Salle, 53-36. Adema led the Skippers with 14 points, and Ganapamo added 10.

Mandeville edged the East Jefferson Warriors, 39-37, on Friday. Ganapamo scored 15 points, while Adema added 12 and Priola finished with nine.

Pearl River (1-3) went 1-2 in the tournament.

Following Thursday’s loss to Covington, the Rebels dropped an overtime game to De La Salle, 64-59, Friday. In that game, Maxwell scored 20 points, which pushed him over 1,000 for his career. Jeremy Lang recorded 19 points, and Simon tallied 17.

On Saturday, PRHS collected its first victory of the season by defeating Riverdale, 52-39.

Maxwell once again topped the Rebels, this time with 25 points. Mavor recorded 14 and Simon contributed nine.