Willard boys and girls basketball teams open respective tournaments with wins

The Willard High School girls and boys basketball teams are in Springfield this week to take part in the Blue and Gold Tournament on the boys side, and the Pink and White Lady Classic.
The Lady Tigers, the No. 6 seed in the white bracket, opened the tournament with an impressive, 55-23 win over Aurora on Dec. 26.
Megan Mahan led Willard with 15 points and Nona Adamson added 12 points in the win.
On Dec. 18, Willard traveled to Bolivar but lost to the Lady Liberators, 71-68. Adamson led Willard with 22 points, Josie Sanders added 15 points, Hannah Bird had 14 points and Kaitlyn Burson ended the game with 10 points.
“Bolivar deserves a lot of credit for hitting some big shots,” said head coach JJ Adamson. “They were able to make a couple of more plays than we did down the stretch, they shot free throws really well. I was proud of our young ladies for the way they fought until the end. There were several times we could have given up hope but we stayed together and continued to fight. We’ll be a better team because of this game.”
Willard is the No. 2 seed in the blue bracket and was able to knock off Fair Grove and Crane, so far.
Against Fair Grove on Dec. 27, Willard got 38 points from Daniel Abreu, in the Tigers 61-56 win. Maurice Grayer also shot well and ended the game with 11 points.
Willard opened the tournament with a 74-54 win over Crane on Dec. 26. Abreu once again paced the Tigers with 32 points; Grayer ended the game with 19 points.