Willard boys basketball defeats Parkview, fall to Nevada

With all the high schools now shut down for Christmas break, the Willard High School boys and girls basketball teams each played two games before the break, with the Lady Tigers winning both and the Tigers splitting two contests.
Boys
The boys basketball team traveled to Springfield on Tuesday, Dec. 17, to play Parkview and came home with a 68-62 win.
Willard led 17-14 after the first quarter and increased their lead to 30-25 by the half. Both teams scored 15 points each in the third quarter, before Willard put it away in the fourth quarter with 23 points.
Daniel Abreu led Willard with 39 points and Maurice Grayer added 17 points in the win.
On Saturday, Dec. 21, Willard traveled to Webb City to take on Nevada in the 4-States Classic and came home with a 58-55 loss. The Tigers are now 6-2 on the season and will take part in the Blue and Gold Tournament starting on Thursday.
Girls
In girls basketball, the Lady Tigers hosted Bolivar on Wednesday, Dec. 18, and came away with a 72-40 win.
The Lady Tigers jumped out to a 15-10 first quarter
lead and increased that to 33-22 at halftime. Willard outscored the Lady Lib- erators 26-10 in the third quarter to increase their lead to 59-32. Willard added 13 more points in the fourth quarter to secure the win.
“I am very proud of
our team’s performance tonight,” said head coach J. J. Adamson. “We played together and shared the basketball offensively. It was a great team victory for this maturing group of young ladies and it was fun to be a part of.”
Willard hosted Spring- field Central on Thursday, Dec. 19 and won the game, 53-43. The Lady Tigers are now 6-1 on the season and will take part in the Pink and White Tournament in Springfield, starting on Thursday.