Even though the Wellsville-Middletown boys basketball team didn’t capture a consolation championship at the New Franklin Tournament on Jan. 6, it still had reason to celebrate two days before.

The Tigers finally got their first victory of the season after topping Community R-6 43-40 in the consolation semifinals on Jan. 4, advancing them to the consolation championship game in which they lost to the Pilot Grove Tigers 74-33.

W-M lost its first eight games before beating the Trojans. The Tigers also snapped a 14-game losing streak that dated back from last year and avenged the 55-37 loss to Community in their season opener on Nov. 21.

“It’s pretty awesome to finally get a win under our belt,” W-M junior Gage Marshall said.

The Tigers finished 1-2 in the eight-team New Franklin Tournament. They began tournament play on Jan. 2 with a 72-34 loss to Westran in a first-round game. W-M was the No. 7 seed.

The W-M girls also finished with a 1-2 record at New Franklin. They placed fourth after losing to Community 63-54 in the third-place game on Jan. 5. The Tigers beat Pilot Grove in the first round before losing back-to-back games to Westran and Community. W-M, which finished fourth in the Montgomery County Invitational Tournament in December, was the No. 3 seed.

The New Franklin Tournament wrapped up its 95th year. Other teams that played in the event were Fayette, Sturgeon and Bunceton/Prairie Home. The tournament was held in two different gymnasiums.

The W-M boys played all three of their games at the school’s old gymnasium. The W-M girls played Pilot Grove in the old gymnasium and competed against Westran and Community in the new gym, which was built in 2017.

Before their season began in November, the W-M boys had concerns of having a full team as only two players returned from last year’s team. The Tigers added five new players, giving them a total of seven.

Marshall and junior Cooper Henderson were the only players back from last winter. The new players are juniors Jonah Slovensky, Brennan Cash and Aaron Peterson and freshmen Gage Nichols and Shane Joles.

Marshall said after two months, all of the players are turning in a strong work ethic in practices and games.

“We’re trying our best,” Marshall said. “We’re giving it everything we got. We have a team building year and we’re making the best of it.”

The Tigers lost their first eight games by an average margin of 31.5 points. They scored just 10 points in contests against Montgomery County and Mexico. W-M was off to its worst start since Steve Lasman took over the program in 2017.

“It’s hard when you don’t win any (games),” Marshall said. “You just have to keep fighting, keep trying your best and that’s all you can do.”

Against Community in the New Franklin tournament, the Tigers came back from a 31-22, third-quarter deficit to pick up the win. Slovensky broke a 40-40 tie with two free throws with 47 seconds left in the game and Joles added a free throw with 15 seconds to go.

Lasman said even though his team got its first win, it still has to work on avoiding turnovers.

“It was great winning the game,” the W-M coach said. “If we can just get better at taking care of the basketball, we’ll be a better team. That’s the whole key. We have to take care of the ball.”

Henderson finished with 13 points, Marshall scored 12 and Slovensky added 11 against Community.

Marshall was the Tigers’ leading scorer with 15 points against fourth-seeded Pilot Grove, which was awarded the consolation championship trophy.

The W-M girls led by as many as nine in the second quarter before falling to Community in the third-place game. Two months ago, the Tigers began their season with a 41-34 win over the Trojans, their first victory over the Laddonia school since 2009.

W-M defeated Pilot Grove 61-46 in the first round on Dec. 30. Four days later, the Tigers led 24-8 to Westran in the semifinals before losing 67-61.
Keigan Hall was the Tigers’ leading scorer in the tournament with 43 points in three games, including 18 against Pilot Grove. Hallie Guzy had a 14-point effort against Westran and Bethany Slovensky finished with a team-high 14 points against Community.

Both W-M boys and girls teams will compete in the Keytesville Tournament on Jan. 22-26.