In games heard Thursday night on WHOW, the Tuscola Warriors took home both the girls and boys Holiday Hoopla Championships over the Clinton Maroons in two close fought games at Monticello High School.
The evening started with Tuscola narrowly edging Clinton, 52-49, in the Girls Championship. The Warriors jumped out to a 16-11 lead after the first quarter, and held off a Lady Maroons run to maintain a 26-23 halftime advantage. Tuscola would lead by as many as ten, before Clinton would narrow the gap in the fourth. However, the Warriors would hold on for the win led by Sydney Moss' 21-points, and Ava Boyer's 9 points for the now (15-1) Warriors.
The Lady Maroons were led by Reagan Filkin's 16-points. She was named the WHOW / Serv Pro of Piatt/DeWitt County Lady Maroons Player of the Game. Lilah Cluver added 11, and Carly Anderson had 8 for the now 9-8 Lady Maroons.
The nightcap also saw the Tuscola boys squad narrowly escape Clinton, 62-54. Both teams entered the night undefeated with the Warriors ranked #1 in Class 1A, and the Maroons ranked #9 in Class 2A. Tuscola jumped out in front early, and would maintain the lead thru much of the contest. The Warriors led by as many as 13, but the Maroons would rally to tie the game with around three minutes left in the game. Tuscola came up big at the free throw line down the stretch going 8 of 11 at the line in the fourth quarter, and pulling away for their fifteenth straight win.
The Warriors were led by Kam Sweetnam's 23 points, while Parker James had 9. They improve to 15-0 on the season.
Clinton was led by Mason Walker with 23 points. He was named the WHOW / Serv Pro of Piatt/DeWitt County Maroons Player of the Game. Keaton Graves added 13, while Dawson Graves had 7 for the now 14-1 Maroons.
Both the Maroons and Lady Maroons next play on January 5th at Heyworth in a special varsity double header. We'll have coverage of both games that night on all WHOW platforms with the girls starting at 5:30pm, and the boys to follow around 7pm again on Friday, January 5th.
