Monday October 19th- Six East Tennessee area schools competed in the pre-season tournament held at the Claiborne Bulldog gymnasium. On Monday the Horace Maynard Girls defeated Forge Ridge and moved on to play Soldiers Memorial Middle School. Midway’s Lady Red Devils defeated Powell Valley in girls competition and moved on to play LaFollette. On Tuesday night Horace Maynard made it two-for-two as they defeated the Lady Devils moving them into the championship game. LaFollette’s Lady Owls would join Horace Maynard in Thursday’s championship game after taking down Midway. Midway and SMMS would play for the third and fourth place trophies respectively with SMMS capturing third and Midway fourth. In the championship game LaFollette led by Faith Evans and Marie Roach took the victory 39-20. For her efforts Roach was named tournament MVP on the girls side. Joining her on the all-tournament team from LaFollette was Summer Daniels, Faith Evans, Chelsae F. and Kendra King. All-tournament selections for Horace Maynard included Shaylynn Flatford, Chelsae Fuston and Lakayla Corum. Forge Ridge had one selected, Chelsae Fultz. Powell Valley also had one selected, Briana Tolliver. Maddy Ayers was selected for Midway and SMMS had two selected, Haley Bolden and Dakota Turner.

On the boy’s side of the bracket Midway began the tournament with a victory over the Indians of Powell Valley and Horace Maynard began their march through the brackets with a win over Forge Ridge. On Tuesday Midway reached the championship game by defeating SMMS while LaFollette moved on to face the Red Devils in the championship game after taking care of Horace Maynard. In the third place contest Horace Maynard got by SMMS to take third. The Blue Devils took home the fourth place trophy. All that was left to settle was the championship on the boys side. Midway came into the contest missing some key players due to football commitments; however, the Midway team kept it close in the first quarter but LaFollette’s depth simply took over and in the end the Owls had the victory at 51-19 and their hands around the first place trophy. The team was led in scoring by tournament MVP Austin North’s 15 points while Rosten Letner threw in 10 points. Taking all-tournament honors for LaFolette included; Shawn Phillips, Cameron Nelson, Roston Letner, Erik North and Austin North. Midway had three selected; Nick Roberts, Lucas Ford and Timmy Slezak. Horace Maynard had two all-tournament selections; Landon Muncy and Brady Neace. Powell Valley had one selected, Kyle Evans. Forge Ridge’s Austin Ervin and SMMS’s Tyler Widner also earned all-tournament honors. Thanks to all the fans and sponsors that supported the 2009 tip-off classic.