The New Castle High boys basketball team closed out 2007 on a positive note.

The Red Hurricane grabbed an early lead and made it stand in handing Kennedy Catholic a 55-48 setback on Saturday in the final round of the Blackhawk Christmas Tournament. It was the 30th and final edition of the tournament, which was won by Blackhawk.

New Castle (4-8) stopped a five-game losing streak, which was the program’s longest skid since the 1993-1994 campaign.

“Any win you’ll take, especially when you’re struggling a little bit,” New Castle coach Mark Stanley said. “Any win to get is a good thing for us; we’re going into a new year with a victory and that’s big.”

The ’Canes built a 16-7 advantage after the first quarter.

Nick Colella paced New Castle with 14 points and Mike Andrews chipped in with 13.

Colella netted 11 of his points in the second half including seven in the fourth quarter. He also pulled down nine rebounds. Andrews grabbed nine boards.

“Colella has been more aggressive going to the hole,” Stanley said. “He hit a big 3 in the second half and he’s been getting to the glass.

“Nick definitely picked us up against Kennedy Catholic.”

Andrews received a scholar-athlete award from the tournament.

Rodney Parchman grabbed a game-high 10 rebounds for the winners.

Kyle Randall led all scorers with 26 points for the Golden Eagles (4-7), 11 of which came in the second quarter. He also recorded eight rebounds.

“Randall is their star and I knew he was capable of that,” Stanley said. “We didn’t do a horrible job on him.
“He’s very athletic. He got some looks and knocked them down.”

New Castle’s tough defense was a key in the fourth quarter.

“Defensively in the fourth quarter our pressure hurt them a little bit,” Stanley said. “We pressed a little bit and that hurt them.”