This Monday, the Eighth  grade A basketball team lost to the O’Henry Mustangs. The team went 3-3 through the regular season, losing its first 2 games at home to O’Henry and Murchison. 8th grade later came back and won 2 straight to Bedichek and Small. The Tigers were 2-2 going to play at Bailey for the zone championship, a #1 seed, and home court advantage throughout the tournament.

During that week, the Tigers lost a few key players to injuries. The Tigers played great games, but lost 68-64 knowing there was room to improve by getting healthy. This game forced new players to step up and play to a higher level. Many players who came into the season unsure stepped up and became great contributors for the rest of the season. After the  loss, the Tigers came back stronger than ever, healthy and ready to get into the tournament. At home next week in the last regular season game, 8a beat the Paredes Pumas 73-36.

The Tigers were feeling confident going into the tournament. This confidence helped the team defeat Small, a big rival, 93-46 with all players on the team contributing to the win.

The Tigers had O’Henry up next. O’Henry is the #1 overall team coming into the tournament being 7-0. The Tigers knew they could beat them, but knew how much work it would take. The players came out firing on all cylinders, and kept it close until the Mustangs pulled away mid-way through the 2nd quarter.

Gorzycki played hard, but was unable to overcome the deficit, and O’Henry took the game 80-63.