Boys Basketball: Kingsmen claim share of NIC crown

Markus Burton fired in 35 points to power the No. 8-ranked Penn Kingsmen to a 79-60 victory against Elkhart, a victory that allowed the Kingsmen to clinch a share of the Northern Indiana Conference Boys Basketball Championship.

Penn finishes NIC play with a 10-1 record, sharing the NIC crown with Glenn and Marian, who also finished league play with 10-1 records. Penn is 18-2 overall.

Penn’s NIC title is the 15th in program history and first since the 2018-2019 season.

Burton, a 6-foot-0 Junior Guard who averages 26.9 points a game, also had 10 rebounds and five assists.

Joey Garwood scored nine points for the Kingsmen, Cole Wojciechowski eight, Josh Gatete seven and Joe Smith six.

PENN 79: Joey Garwood 9, Markus Burton 35, Joe Smith 6, Josh Gatete 7, Cole Wojciechowski 8, Blake Barker 5, Trey Miller 3, Dominic Bonner 4, Mason Wilson 0, Elijah Benson 0, Ethan Good 0, Dylan Derda 2.

Elkhart 60: Anthony Williams 3, Jacob Windy 7, Juan Carlos Romo 4, Erick Nocentelli 26, Darreon Newson 2, Tre’Vonn Brown 0, Cam’ron Daniels 13, Tumarye Morris 2, Joe Richardson 3.

PENN             24        41        62        79

Elkhart           12        27        43        60

Three-pointers: PENN 3 (Joey Garwood 1, Markus Burton 1, Josh Gatete 1), Elkhart 10 (Nocentelli 5, Williams 2, Windy 1, Romo 1, Daniels 1, Richardson 1).