Peddie hosted its 22nd annual Peddie School Invitational Tournament on the weekend of December 16. The Peddie Boys Varsity Basketball Team competed with seven other teams and played against Solebury, Kiski and Hun. Peddie finished the tournament in 4th place, with a 1-2 record.

The Falcons played the Spartans from Pennsylvania in the first round of the tournament. Peddie powered through two halves and came out on top with a convincing 86-64 victory, aided by the support of a full fan attendance. Junior Noah Payne scored a team-high of 30 points, while Raja Coleman ’23 and Nyle Coleman ’23 added 22 and 20 points, respectively. Full of passion and energy from last year’s loss to Solebury, it was a performance highlighted by teamwork that secured Peddie a position in the first half of the rankings.

The Falcons faced the Kiski Cougars at 7 p.m. the following day. Fan attendance was just as energetic as the previous day. Although a highly close game from start to finish, the Falcons fell short 78 – 89. Raja Coleman ’23 scored a team-high of 30 points, Noah Payne ’24 had 23, while new Junior Jacob Metivier added 11 points and contributed a number of boards. Metivier commented after the game, “ [It was a] tough loss [but] it was nice to see everyone show up – the energy definitely helped us. All the celebrations going on and just the overall noise and atmosphere really helped us get going.”

The Falcons ended the tournament with a narrow loss of 59-70 to the Hun Red Raiders. Late in the first half, Noah Payne ’24 scored his 1000th career point, a significant achievement for the new junior. Payne finished the game with 30 points, while Nyle Coleman ’23 had 19 and Cai Romaine ’25 had 8 points. Multiple Falcon starters were out due to injuries suffered during the previous games. As Jongwoo Park ’23 stated, “our performance was good considering that we were small in size and low in numbers of players. With only eight players in the rotation, we still managed to make good shot selections.” He added, “we fought hard for the ball, played well, and hope to win the next couple games.”

Peddie’s 22nd annual PSIT was full of highlights from both Falcons and other schools. Phelps took the title this year over runner-up Kiski in a 106-98 win. The Falcons came in fourth, and hope to win it all next year.