After a thrilling overtime win over Hamilton in Thursday night's semifinal, Casteel took control early Friday night and never relinquished. 
The result was a less dramatic, yet equally satisfying victory over tournament host  McClintock, 65-56 to secure the Holiday Shootout Tournament at the Doc Zinke gymnasium. 
Casteel point guard Amare King led all scorers with 23 points, while Aidan Schmidt added 20 points and 11 rebounds, and was named the tournament's most valuable player.

"We really wanted to push the ball and keep running tonight and we were able to do that pretty well," said Schmidt, a 6-2 senior who scored 28 points the previous night in a thrilling OT victory.

"We knew (McClintock) wasn't quite as deep so we wanted to keep pushing it up and down the court. But I give them credit, they kept fighting and made things interesting."

Casteel led 13-8 after one quarter and took a 33-22 lead into the halftime break behind Amare King, who scored 13 of his 23 points in the first half. 
"Amare's a great leader for us," Schmidt said about the 6-5 junior point guard  

"He runs the floor well and he gets us in good position for what we want to do."

 

 

In the third quarter, Casteel (13-2) built its lead up to 17 points, but McClintock never backed down. Sophomore guards Kyler Frye (19 points) and Josh McManaway (18 points) kept the Chargers (10-4) in the game with their quickness and three point shooting. Fellow sophomore guard Iyzaya Soto knocked down a three pointer with 3:00 left in the game, cutting  Casteel's lead to six points (59-53). 
But the Colts were able to shut the door with defense and a pair of lengthy offensive possessions. 
"I'm pleased with how we played this week," Casteel coach Aaron Windler said afterward. 
"It's hard to believe we've pmayed 15 games already. We're still trying to solidify our rotation, but I like the progress we're making."