Warren Lodge Christmas Tourney to begin Friday

By ROB NUNLEY / Sports Editor for the Southern Standard (McMinnville, Tenn.)

If the presents under your holiday tree still leave the basketball fan in your family a bit unfulfilled, never fear. The Christmas season will once again be packed with plenty of local basketball action.

The second annual Warren Lodge Christmas Tournament tips off Friday afternoon at the Charlie Dalton Gym, with local elementary squads competing against other area teams through four big nights of action.

All money raised from the tournament goes to a scholarship fund, from which scholarships will be awarded to one boy and one girl from the high school.

Three Warren County girls teams, as well as four boys squads, will take part in this year’s tournament, which tips off Friday night with three first-round contests.

In Friday’s opening contest, scheduled for 5:30 p.m., the seventh-grade boys from Warren County Middle will face off against Grundy County. The Irving College Lady Tigers take to the floor next, for a first-round matchup against Sparta.

Friday night wraps up with a battle of Eastsides, as Cannon County Eastside’s boys take on our own Eastside Bulldogs. The Bulldogs will be defending their 2002 Warren Lodge championship, as they downed the WCMS eighth-graders 54-52 to capture last year’s crown.

The first round will be completed Saturday night with four games, beginning at 2:30 p.m. when Cannon East’s girls face Grundy County. DeKalb County’s girls take on Centertown’s Lady Warriors at 4 p.m., followed by the same two schools in a boys matchup at 5:30. Coffee County, last year’s girls champion, takes on Warren County Eastside at 7 p.m. to wrap up the first round.

The tournament semifinals are scheduled for Monday, beginning with the first girls semi at 4 p.m. between the Cannon Eastside/Grundy County winner and either Sparta or Irving College. Manchester’s boys will face the DeKalb/Centertown winner at 5:30.

At 7 p.m. Monday, the Manchester/Warren Eastside winner will face either DeKalb County or Centertown in the second girls semifinal, and the night’s action will wrap up with either WCMS or Grundy County taking on the winner between Cannon Eastside and Warren Eastside.

Consolation games and championships are set for Tuesday night, beginning with the girls consolation at 4:30, with the boys consolation game, girls championship and boys championship to follow.