Landrum’s men won two of three games in last week’s Smoky Mountain Classic basketball tournament in Tennessee.

 The 6-4 Cardinals host the 17th annual Battle at the Border tournament beginning this evening, with games following on Thursday and Friday, Dec. 29 and 30. Landrum’s women’s and men’s teams will compete during those three days.

 In the final game of the Smoky Mountain Classic on Dec. 23, Trey Smith scored 37 points, dished out 11 assists, and added three steals, as the Cardinals topped Forrest (Chapel Hill, Tenn.), 96-78.

 Teammate Foster Bridges scored 26, fed five assists and also added three steals, while the Cardinals’ Manny Gonzalez scored a season-high 19 and pulled down 10 rebounds.

Forrest led 29-22 after one quarter, but the Cards outscored the Rockets, 29-17, in the second period, to lead 51-46 at the half. Landrum outscored the Rockets, 28-17, in the last period to win going away.

On Dec. 22, Jackson County (McKee, Ky.) edged Landrum, 82-81, to keep the Cardinals from going 3-0 in the tournament. With the teams tied at 37 at the half, the Generals held the Cardinals down, 24-14 in the third quarter. Landrum outshot the Generals, 30-21, in the final period but fell one point short of sending the game into overtime.

 In that contest, Turner Ussery shot out the lights with 36 points for the Cardinals, with Smith adding 26 and Gonzalez 10. Ussery also grabbed 16 rebounds, adding four assists and four steals. Gonzalez pulled down nine rebounds.

In the tournament’s game one, Smith scored 32 points, including six threes, while Bridges scored 17, and Dalton Lawson 15, as Landrum clobbered Paintsville (Ky.), 98-62. Smith added four assists and two steals, while Gonzalez fed nine assists.

After outscoring the Tigers, by four points in the first period, the Cardinals put together a spectacular 34-9 second period, to lead, 55-26 at the half.