The Weaubleau Tigers won all three of their games by 30+ points as they steamrolled their way to the championship of the 91st Annual Warsaw Invitational Boys Basketball Tournament last week.
The Tigers are coming off of a 24-7 season in 2022-23 when they were also state quarterfinalists in Class 1.
The annual double elimination event got underway on Tuesday with first round games. In the first game of the evening, (1) Weaubleau rolled over the host (8) Warsaw Wildcats with a final of 79-46, their narrowest margin of victory in the tourney. In the second game, (4) Knob Noster pulled away in the second half to defeat (5) Lincoln, 53-43. The next game saw (3) Butler handle (6) Clinton with a final of 65-53 and, in the nightcap, (2) Cole Camp advanced with a 54-42 win over (7) Skyline.
Thursday night's second round games saw Skyline eliminate Clinton, 69-44, and Warsaw took down Lincoln with a 60-59 final tally in perhaps the most exciting game of this year's tournament.
On the winner's side, Weaubleau advanced to the championship game with an 82-38 trouncing of Knob Noster and Butler moved on with a 60-29 upset win over Cole Camp.
Saturday's schedule included the consolation game between Warsaw and Skyline where the Tigers worked their way to a 71-45 win over the Wildcats. In the third place game, Knob Noster downed Cole Camp, 49-30 and Weaubleau claimed the championship, leaving no doubt with a convincing 84-50 win over the Butler Bears.
Weaubleau's Gage Johnson was voted as the Most Valuable Player of the tournament.
In the girl's bracket, the Skyline Lady Tigers claimed back-to-back championships of the 36th Annual Warsaw Invitational Girls Basketball Tournament when they doubled up Clinton with a 62-31 final on Friday night.
The Lady Tigers' first place finish was also their eighth in the past 10 years.
The girl's kicked off this year's event on Monday night and about each of those games were won decidedly by the bracket favorite.
In the first game of the opening night, the defense of (1) Skyline stymied the (8) Butler Lady Bears as they rolled to a lopsided 76-17 win. In the next game, the (4) Weaubleau Lady Tigers handed the (5) Cole Camp Lady Bluebirds a 50-23 loss. The next game saw the (2) Clinton Lady Cardinals take down the (7) Lincoln Lady Cardinals with an easy 58-8 victory and, in the final game of th evening, the (6) Warsaw Ladycats hung for awhile but eventually succumbed to (3) Knob Noster, 55-39.
In Wednesday's roundball action, both teams got off to slow starts, but Warsaw used a third quarter run to pull away and defeat Lincoln, 36-24, eliminating them from this year's tournament. Clinton advanced to the championship game with a 66-34 win over Knob Noster and Skyline rocketed to the title game with an 86-35 win over Weaubleau. Cole Camp was sent packing after a 49-34 loss to Butler.
In Friday's trophy games, the Warsaw Ladycats claimed their best finish in the event since 2020 with a 54-47 win over Butler in the consolation final. Weaubleau and Knob Noster got in a see-saw battle but the Lady Tigers eventually pulled way and went on to take third place with an 81-73 win and Skyline staked claim to the championship with a 62-31 win over Clinton.
As voted on by coaches, Ashlen Garrett was named the Most Valuable Player of this year's tourney.
