Beech Tree News Network

Butler County’s “Little Bears”  boys basketball program came to a close this weekend after a successful season with a tournament at Morgantown Elementary.  According to Cody Donaldson, director of the program, all teams have shown tremendous growth.  Individual players have had fun while learning the skills of basketball.  Each Saturday morning 1st and 2nd grade players worked on drills before playing games.  3rd through 6th grade teams practiced two times each week with games on Saturdays that seeded them for the end of the season tournament.

  On Saturday, December 15, the brackets were set for tournament action.  First on the agenda were 3rd and 4th grade games with two Morgantown teams, the Red team, coached by Rodney McMillan, and the Green team, coached by David Rogers.  What started out as a close first half  led to the Red team pulling out the win and advancing to the championship.

After that game, the Blue team, a North Butler team, coached by Robert Johnson, and another Morgantown Elementary team, the Orange team, coached by Brad Dockery squared off.  After a hard fought game and many lead changes, the Orange team came away with the victory advancing them to the championship as well.  In the championship game, the Red team came out strong in the first half and had a 15 – 2 lead at halftime.  The Orange team had a little spurt in the second half but it wasn’t enough. 

The Red team won the 3rd-4th grade championship with a score of 19 – 10.  Members of the Red team are Jonah Akers, Trapper Farris, Aaron Hinton, Josh Cantu, Alex Smith, Jagger Henderson, Lawson McMillan, Leevi McMillan, and Carter Graham.

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  The second half of the day was filled with 5th -6th grade action.  First on the docket was the Blue team from North Butler, coached by Joc Bratcher against the Red team from Morgantown Elementary, coached by Steven Rice.   Both teams fought hard but the Blue team came out on top advancing them to the championship. 

The next game was a face off between two Morgantown Elementary teams, the Green team, coached by Joey Tutko, and the Yellow team, coached by Brandon Dockery.  This one was close throughout, but the Green team overcame in the end with a score of 19-16 advancing them to the championship as well. 

The championship game of the 5th-6th grade teams ended the day’s events.  Both teams came out strong but the Blue team was just too much to handle.  They won with a score of 37-16.  Members of their team are Justin Elms, Ryan Cardwell, Zackery West, Trevor Dockery, Trevor Cardwell, Parker Wilson, Colten Bratcher.

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  Cody Donaldson credits the success of this program to the hard work and dedication of several volunteer coaches as well as supportive parents.  The goal of this program is to provide younger players the opportunity to develop skills and a love of the game.  Another successful year is in the books.