Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...

The Georgiana Panthers varsity boys and Greenville Tigers varsity girls basketball teams competed in the Georgiana Christmas Clash Championship this week, with the Panthers and Tigers taking home championship trophies on Dec. 8. 

Greenville varsity girls coach Nick McHenry said he is proud of the Tiger’s performance. 

“I was pleased with how our girls competed both days of the tournament,” McHenry said. “During this five game win streak, we’ve all gotten better each game. I think that we are starting to come together as a team. The future for us is very bright!”

Along with Georgiana and Greenville, other competing teams were the Andalusia Bulldogs and the Opp Bobcats. The boys tournament began with Georgiana defeating Opp and Andalusia triumphing over Greenville, and ended with Georgiana conquering Andalusia in the final game 97-91. The girls tournament began with the same team match-ups and concluded with Greenville defeating Georgiana 53-44 for the championship title. 

The Christmas Clash All Tournament Team, composed of the most valuable varsity boys players, included Georgiana team members Marques Payton, Kaveon Miles, Jaden Stallworth and Nasir Cheatham, and Andalusia players Tevin and Tyler Sigers. The most valuable girl players were Greenville team members Sy’Nya Edwards, Justice James, Ja’Kira Burnett and Sunita Oliver, and Georgiana players Nyeashia Thomas and Grace Bradley. Marques Payton and Sunita Oliver were the tournament’s overall most valuable players. 

Georgiana Panthers coach Kirk Norris said he plans for the team to build off of the winning momentum. 

“I was extremely proud of our guys for winning the tournament,” Norris said. “We got two wins over quality opponents with Opp in the semifinal and Andalusia in the championship game. We will look to continue to build off this momentum and continue to improve day by day.”

All highlights from both Christmas championship games can be viewed on the Butler County Sports Network Facebook page.