Annual BORDER WAR tourney

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By DAVID HUNTER

Last week, five out of the six Cannon County Grammar Schools took part in the annual Border War tournament at Woodbury Grammar and CCHS.
However, this year's event was held with heavy hearts as it honored the memory of longtime co-tournament director, Camia Hayes, who tragically passed away recently.

"It has been an honor to continue with the Border War Tournaments," longtime tournament co-director Melanie Sissom said. "It has been a challenge to go forward, and try to do the things that Camia (Hayes) had been used to doing, and pick up the pieces and move on to what she would want us to do. It has been very hard, but also it has been very enjoyable as much, because I feel like she would be proud of what has come out of the Border War tournament."
As for the basketball games, 10 girls and 11 boys' teams from around the county and nearby took part in the single elimination tournament. In the end, Coffee County Middle swept the titles, but both had to knock out, Cannon County's best, to have a chance at the titles.


Coming into the Border War tournament, the Woodland Lady Warriors has been on a roll with an undefeated record inside the county. However, they were upset in the first round on Oct. 24 by Murfreesboro Central Magnet, 38-21.

"We came in Monday, and we were a little strung-out coming off Fall Break," Lady Warriors head coach Suzette Sissom said. "I think that really hurt us. We executed well in the first half of the game Monday night. We were still in the game at halftime. In the second half, we did not execute as well, and we did not box out and rebound well. They killed us on the boards, and that hurt us."

The good news was, because of the unique bracket with only 10 teams on the girls' side since Swiss dropped out and Auburn got a forfeit win into the quarterfinals.

The Lady Warriors got a second chance in the quarterfinals, the following day against Grundy North, and they took advantage with a 37-29 win to advance to the semifinals.

The way the tournament was to win the Border War championship, the team would have to win two games on the same day. However, in the semifinals, the Lady Warriors ran into a well-oiled machine in Coffee County, and their superstar Bella Vinson.

It was a back and forth game during the first 12 minutes, since quarters are only six minutes. The Lady Warriors were only down by two, 14-12 at the break. In the meantime, Coffee County broke open the game in the third quarter as it stretched its advantage to 25-18, and they pulled away for the 39-22 win and a berth in the finals, which they won later that night.

"I told the girls we were in a good situation since we were the only team that got a second chance, and today was a second chance to do things better," Suzette Sissom said. "I was very proud of their effort, especially in the first half. They were committed to what we were doing, and we slowed up their offense. We stuck to the game plan, we were down two points at halftime. The second half, we fell back of our pattern of not boxing out, and their big girl killed us underneath."

On the boys' side, the Westside Eagles rolled to the semifinals with wins by a combined score of 104 to 66 in the opening round and quarterfinals on Oct. 24 and 25.

However, in the semis, they ran into a determined Coffee County team, while missing a key player, Liam Allen from the important contest.
The visitors took advantage, and they won handily 44-18. Later that night, Coffee County also won the boys title.

"The first two games, we played really well," Westside head coach Roger Haley said. "Coming into tonight, we had been hampered with the flu. We had several out all week, and we had only half our players practicing. We knew going into this game, they were a higher-level team. We still did not have all our starters here, and we were not able to get the things accomplished we wanted to. They were just too athletic."

Here are the local results from the 2016 Border War Tournament
Oct. 24 Opening Round.
Girls
M'boro Central Magnet 38,
Woodland 21
(Woodland)- Cassie George-8, Bradi Mason- 6, Shelby Smithson-5, Maci Sellars- 2.

Grundy North 22,
Woodbury Grammar 17
(WGS) Lauren Knox 6, Rudy DeArmond 4, Ashlee Hill 3, Zettie Elrod-2, Alex Ruth- 2.

Boyd 39
Westside 7
(Westside)- Ivy Travis-3, Charlee Nichols-2, Halle Singer-2.

Oct. 25 Quarterfinals Girls

M'boro Central Magnet 43
Eastside 4
(Eastside)- Mykala Barrett 2, Stella Brown-2.

DeKalb Middle 44
Auburn 12
(Auburn)- Shelby Parker-5, Hannah Junker- 5, Mattea Thomas- 1, Katelyn Duggin- 1.

Woodland 37
Grundy North 29 (Woodland)- Bradi Mason- 12, Cassie George-9, Shelly
Smithson-7, Maleah Sissom- 2, Emma Grace Hughes-2.

Oct. 29 Semifinals/Finals Girls

Semifinals-Coffee 39 Woodland 22
(Woodland)- Cassie George 10, Shelly Smithson-6, Bradi Mason-6.

Championship Game
Coffee 31, DeKalb 29.

All-Tournament Team- (Woodland)- Bradi Mason.
Camia Hayes Memorial Award- Woodbury Grammar Lady Cubs.

Oct. 24 Opening Round Boys

M'boro Central Magnet 55
Woodland 24
(Woodland)- Brady Bryson-8, Dalton Hale- 4, Jack Davis- 3, Ethan Powell-3, D.J. Moore-2, Zach Basham-2

Swiss 61
Auburn 19
(Auburn)- Brenden Reed- 18, Steffen Smith-1

Westside 54
Grundy North 30
(Westside)-Gus Davenport 20, Liam Allen 17, Braden Emberton-9, James Vassar-4, Anthony Bain-2, Seth Todd-2, Theo Winters-1.

Woodbury Grammar 36
Boyd 29
(WGS)- Hagen Fann- 15, Lavell Rogers-7, Connor Tucker-6, Daylon Dearry- 3, JR Ferrell-3, Bradley Passenger-2.

Oct. 25 Quarterfinals Boys

M'boro Central Magnet 54, Eastside 10
(Eastside)- Eli Cantrell-8, Caden Duke-2.

Westside 50
Centertown 36
(Westside)- Liam Allen 24, Gus Davenport-22, Brandon Emberton-2, Theo Winters-2.

Coffee 55
WGS 21
(WGS)- JR Ferrell-7, Connor Tucker-4, Lavell Rogers 3, Bradley Passinger-3, Hagen Fann-2, Daylon Dearry-2.

Oct. 29 Semifinals/Finals Boys

Coffee 44
Westside 18
(Westside)- Gus Davenport-14, Seth Todd-2, Dalton Dempsey-2.

Championship Game
Coffee 43, Swiss 36.

All-Tournament Team- (Westside)- Gus Davenport.

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