Bourbon High School’s boys’ basketball team hosted Crystal City on Feb. 9 and Grandview (Hillsboro) on Feb. 12 before playing in Steelville on Feb. 13 to cap a trio of games this past week. The Warhawks fell in all three games and are now 1-23 on the year. All games are detailed below.

Feb. 9 was Bourbon’s Cancer Awareness Night, and through a silent auction, Bourbon High School raised over $1,000 to benefit a local resident’s battle with cancer.

Bourbon hosted a junior varsity tournament, and the Warhawks were seeded sixth out of seven teams. The Warhawks fell to third-seeded Vienna in the first round before losing a nail-biter by one point to Cuba in the consolation round. Salem won the tournament, Belle took second and Vienna finished in third.

The Warhawks will wrap up their regular-season play on the road against St. Paul Lutheran on Feb. 17 and in Cuba on Feb. 19. 

Bourbon will compete in the Class 3 District 8 Tournament in Laquey on Feb. 24. The Warhawks are seeded seventh and will play second-seeded Belle at 6:30 p.m. in the first round of the tournament. The winner of that matchup will play the winner of Fatima and Iberia at 7:30 p.m. on Feb. 26 in the semifinals.

Feb. 9 vs. Crystal City

In a matchup of one-win teams, the Warhawks and the Crystal City Hornets brought postseason-like intensity as the two teams nearly came to blows while competing for their second victory. The game followed the physicality of the girls’ game played earlier in the evening between the two schools, and tie ups and hard fouls were common throughout all four quarters.

The first quarter saw the lead change multiple times as both teams exchanged baskets and Bourbon took a 16-15 lead into the second quarter. Crystal City ramped up its defense in the second frame, giving up just seven Warhawk points to take a 31-23 advantage into halftime.

The Warhawks fought back in the third frame and were helped out by the overzealous Hornets. Bourbon sophomore Dawson King was the best player on the floor throughout the evening, and Crystal City did everything they could to try and stop him. Late in the quarter, King was shoved from behind while attempting a layup. King slammed into the padding behind the rim, and got up gingerly. 

After much discussion, the play was called as a technical foul, and King went to the free throw line to shoot two technical free throws along with the two shots he was entitled to for the foul. He knocked down three out four and Bourbon used a 14-7 advantage in the frame to trim the deficit to one point heading into the final quarter.

But the Warhawks struggled to score in the final period with the Crystal City defense focused on King, and the Hornets were able to enjoy their long bus ride back home with a 55-46 win over Bourbon.

King erupted for a season-high 26 points to lead the Warhawks. After knocking down six shots from three-point land in his last game versus St. Paul Lutheran, King drained a season-high seven shots from deep against Crystal City. Owen Miller scored a steady 12 points, Andre Nixon chipped in four and Joseph Woods and Garrett Wallis each scored two points for Bourbon. Junior Trent Eisenbeis scored a team-high 12 points for Crystal City, and was also their vocal leader on defense.

Feb. 12 vs. Grandview (Hillsboro)

The Warhawks returned to the road and traveled to Hillsboro to take on the Grandview Eagles. Grandview took a 19-8 lead after the first quarter before blowing the game open in the second frame. The Eagles outscored Bourbon 19-3 in the quarter and took a 38-11 lead into halftime. Bourbon struggled to score throughout the game, and didn’t reach double figures in any quarter. Grandview led 61-20 after the third quarter before coasting to a 72-29 victory over the Warhawks.

Bourbon didn’t have any scorers reach double digits, but had seven players score baskets. Andre Nixon netted six points, Owen Miller and Joseph Woods each scored five, Dawson King, Garrett Wallis and Bryar Stricklan scored three points apiece and Jaden Booker added two for the Warhawks. 10 Eagles reached the scoresheet, led by junior Jaxon Peterson, who tallied 12 points.

Feb. 13 vs. Steelville

The Warhawks played the following night against its Gasconade Valley Conference rival, Steelville Cardinals, who also played the evening before against Salem.

The Cardinals scored the first 15 points of the game and never looked back. Bourbon struggled against Steelville’s pressure defense and the Cardinals blew the game open in the second period, and took a 46-12 lead into halftime. Bourbon played better in the second half and scored 19 points in the final two frames, but Steelville was able to rest their starters for the final quarter, and coast to a 75-31 victory.

Dawson King knocked down a pair of treys, two free throws and a close-range basket en route to 10 points to lead the Warhawks. Owen Miller and Joseph Woods each scored six, Andre Nixon chipped in five and Bryar Stricklan and Garrett Wallis scored two points apiece for Bourbon. Jackson Woods netted a game-high 19 points for Steelville.