– Grady’s junior high boys’ basketball teams had a great week bringing home two tournament titles and then beating Klondike.
The junior high B team started the winning streak with two wins at the Garden City Tournament on Jan. 13.
Grady opened with a impressive 26-5 win over Sterling City and then beat Garden City 23-15 to win the Tournament Championship.
“It always feels good to see the kids win a tournament. This group has shown each time they get on a floor they continue to get better and better,” said Grady coach Brett Glaze. “They are a fun group that listens and learns. I am excited to see how this group will continue to get better and better.”
On Jan. 10, the junior high boys hosted the Grady Tournament.
The Wildcats opened the tournament with the Loop Longhorns. Their offense averaged double digits for the four quarters and the defense only allowed a handful of buckets for a 41-11 victory.
Wyatt Creeck score a game high 14 points and Cole Dennis added seven points.
Jack Salazar finished the game with five points followed by Colt Cearley with four points, Nate Senn four, Nate Hinojosa four, and Titus Ashmore three.
Grady would advance to the championship game against Dawson.
The Dragons put up a good fight but Grady scored more points in all four quarters for a 26-20 Championship victory.
“We played well defensively in both games and avenged the early season loss to Dawson,” said Glaze. “It is pretty great to see how much better we have gotten since the end of the year. The kids have done a great job committing and I am excited to see where this team can go.”
Creech was again leading scorer with 14 points and Titus Ashmore and Salazar added five points each.
Nate Hinojosa, Cannon Chandlier, and Nate Senn helped out with two points each and Tripp Wells tallied one point.
Also contributing to the championship victory were Dennis, Justice Urias, Krue Gray, Elario Mendoza, Kipton Wiebe, and Colt Cearley.
Grady was back in district action on Monday against Klondike.
The Wildcats opened with a wonderful 12-6 first quarter and looked poised the blow out the Cougars.
But Klondike had other ideas and worked hard over the next 18 minutes chip away at the six point lead and tie the game at 27-27 forcing overtime.
The extra time was very exciting with Grady scoring one more bucket for a 31-29 win.
“Big time plays down the stretch made by a host of guys won the game for us. We battled some adversity, some of it was self inflicted. When it came down to it though, we made the plays when we had too,” said Glaze. “We are continuing to show toughness and playing as a team. We lost to this group early in the year so it is great to see the improvement.”
Creech scored his favorite amount of 14 points and Ashmore helped out with seven points. Dennis threw in five points followed by Senn with three points and Wells with two points.
Grady will host Loop next Monday with the B team playing at 5 p.m. and the A team playing at 7 p.m.
RIGHT: The Grady B Team won the championship at the Garden City Tournament last weekend.