BOURBON — Bourbon High School boy’s basketball team’s tough season continued on Jan. 3 in the first round of the 7th Annual Battle in Bourbon Tournament.

The Warhawks were seeded eighth out of eight teams and faced a tough draw against the number one-seeded Valley Park Hawks. Valley Park hosted Bourbon just a few days before on Jan. 27 and defeated the Warhawks 81-37 in a one-sided affair. Bourbon had an even tougher time on Jan. 3 against Valley Park, who didn’t let their foot off the gas en route to a 111-20 rout over the Warhawks. Bourbon is now 0-11 on the season after giving up over 100 points for the first time this year. 

Valley Park dominated from the jump ball and got out to a 42-4 lead after the first quarter and led 65-7 at halftime. Bourbon scored 13 points in the second half as they almost doubled their first half outcome, but it was far too little to comeback against a talented and balanced Valley Park team who had four players score in double figures. 

Tariq Moore led the Warhawks with six points on three hard-earned buckets in the paint. Bryar Stricklan added five points on a pair of baskets and a free throw, Andre Nixon chipped in four points and Jaden Booker added two points. Bourbon’s leading scorer Dawson King was also held to two points and was consistently harassed by Valley Park’s on-ball pressure defense. Joseph Woods knocked down a free throw and finished with one to round out the Warhawks’ score sheet. 

Bourbon then played Grandview on Jan. 6, which will be detailed in next week’s paper. The Warhawks will play in the tournament again on Jan. 9 at either 4 p.m. or 5 p.m., depending on the result against Grandview. The Warhawks will return to regular season action with back-to-back games on Jan. 13 and Jan. 14 as they will host Laquey before traveling to Hillsboro to take on Grandview in a rematch of the Jan. 6 Tournament game.