7th & 8th Grade Boys Play In Willow Springs Basketball Tournament

The Ava Middle School Bears participated in the annual Willow Springs basketball tournaments last week. This was the second year for Willow Springs to host a 7th grade tournament during the same week as the 8th grade tournament.

Four teams participated in the tournament, and tournament play was a round robin format. Other teams competing in the tournament included Mountain Grove, West Plains, and tournament host Willow Springs.

Ava played Mountain Grove in the opening round of the tournament on Tuesday, Jan. 3. Mountain Grove defeated the Bears 35-27 in the 7th grade contest. Ava led 14-10 after one period of play, but Mountain Grove rallied to hold a 31-18 at the end of three periods of play.

Anthony Rosas led Ava’s scoring with seven points. The remainder of the scoring included: Nate Crandall 5, Colton Skyles 4, Nick Sterling 3, Devin Elliott 2, Tyler Pellham 2, Peyton Ingram 2, and Chase Dodson 2.

The Bears also dropped the 8th grade contest to Mountain Grove, falling by a 42-34 margin. The Panthers led 26-10 at halftime. Austin Potts led the scoring for the Bears with eight points, followed by Chance Dobbs and Cody Stofer with five points each. Reece Goforth, Nate Bray, Caleb McFarlin, and Colton Overcast scored four points each to round out the scoring for Ava.

The Bears played the West Plains Zizzers on Thursday, Jan. 5. Ava won the 7th grade game 43-18. The Bears started slowly and were tied with the Zizzers at 4-4 after the first quarter of play. Ava pulled out to a 31-17 lead by the end of the third quarter. Rosas led the scoring with 15 points, followed by Skyles with 10 points. Other scoring for Ava included: Ingram 6, Dodson 5, Crandall 3, Sterling 2, and Zimran Lawrence 2.

West Plains defeated Ava 62-35 in the 8th grade contest. The Zizzers led 17-8 after the first quarter of play and led 37-14 at halftime. Leading scorer for the Bears was McFarlin with 14 points, followed by Overcast with eight points. The rest of the scoring for Ava included:  Bray 6, Stofer 3, Dobbs 2, and Hayden Schuster 2.

Ava played Willow Springs in the final round of the tournament on Saturday, Jan. 7. Ava won the 7th grade game over the host team by a score of 46-21.

Ava led 10-4 after the first quarter and stretched the lead out to 34-13 by the end of the third quarter. Rosas again led the scoring for the Bears with 20 points, followed by Skyles with 10 points. The remainder of Ava’s scoring included:  Ingram 5, Pellham 4, Crandall 2, Elliott 2, Lawrence 2, and Dodson 1.

Willow Springs defeated Ava 45-16 in the 8th grade game. Nate Bray led Ava’s scoring with seven points. The remainder of the scoring for the Bears included: McFarlin 5, Overcast 2, and Stofer 2.

Tournament winners were the Mountain Grove 7th grade team and the West Plains 8th grade team. Both teams were 3-0 in tournament play.