Beech Tree News Network

 Butler County Middle School boys basketball team boarded the bus at 9:00 am on Saturday, December 15th for a full day of basketball action at the annual Adairville Christmas Tournament.  Butler County played two pool play games which seeded them for the tournament that night.  Their first pool play game was against Chandlers Chapel.  The Bears charged out strong under the direction of Blake Graham and Bailey Anderson who combined for 26 of the Bears 38 first half points and only allowed Chandlers 5 points.  The Bears bench saw lots of playing time in this game and did well defensively allowing the opponent to only score 9 points in the game.  The Bears won their tourney opener quite handily with a score of 57 - 9.  Anderson finished the game with 21 and Graham had 16.  Also scoring for the Bears was Kaleb Casey and Ty Burden with 9 each.  Thomas Cherry also added 2 free throws.

    The second game of the day proved to be a little more of a game but not much.  The Bears once again dominated offensively and defensively.  This game it was Kaleb Casey who came out with the hot hand and scored 11 of the Bears 18 first quarter points.  Blake Graham warmed up the second quarter and contributed 11 himself.  Once again, Butler County's bench got some playing opportunity due to the Bears large lead throughout the game.  The Bears won this one quite easily as well with a score of 55-23.  High scorer for the Bears was Kaleb Casey with 21.  Blake Graham had 15, Bailey Anderson 8, Ty Burden 3 and Caleb Beasley, Skyler Moore, Patton Allen and Gage Ward with 2 each.

    With two dominating wins under their belt the Bears came out of their pool with the number one seed that automatically advanced them to the championship game and a 5 hour delay between games.  Whether it was the lay over, overconfidence, or merely the fact that their opponent, Todd Central, was a better team than they had faced earlier in the day; the Bears found themselves behind quickly in this one.  Todd Central came out with a forceful effort in the first half and caught the Bears off guard leaving them with a 12 point defecit to deal with at halftime.  Whatever Coach House said at halftime must have awakened the Bears because they closed the gap in the 3rd quarter diminishing the lead to only 6 thanks to two key 3's by Bailey Anderson in that quarter.  The Bears finally got some momentum in the 4th quarter and at the end of regulation the game was tied at 36.  The Bears struggled to score throughout the game and what was possibly the game difference stat was the Bears lack of ability to be able to connect from the free throw line, going 10 for 25, with 3 key misses in overtime.  The Bears lost this one by 1 in overtime with a score of 38 - 37.  Bailey Anderson was the Bears leading scorer with 13.  Blake Graham had 10, Kaleb Casey 6, Kaleb Hunt 5, and Ty Burden 3.