The 2007-2008 junior high basketball season concluded recently with four of Richardson's eight junior highs claiming tournament championships in post-season action.
The post-season double-elimination tournament -- Feb. 14 to 16 -- featured competition among the 7th- and 8th-grade boys' and girls' teams from all eight junior highs.
8th Grade Boys
The Richardson North Vikings — a No. 3 seed in the tournament with a 5-2 regular season record — won the tournament championship upsetting the top-seeded Forest Meadow Chargers in the championship game. North was riding high in the tournament final — coming off an upset win the night before over No. 2-seed Lake Highlands. North never trailed in either game against Lake Highlands or Forest Meadow.
Lake Highlands captured third-place in the tournament with a win over the No.4-seed Apollo Panthers (4-3) in the third-place game. Apollo had fallen the night before to Forest Meadow, after beating West handily in opening-round action.
On the consolation side of the bracket, the No. 5-seeded West Broncos rebounded from an opening-round loss to Apollo to manage back-to-back wins over the Liberty Patriots (0-7) and the Parkhill Raiders (2-5) to capture the consolation crown.
8th Grade Girls
The Liberty Patriots girls team took an identical route to the championship as the North 8th-grade boys with identical results.
Entering the tournament as the No.-3 seed, Liberty (4-3 on the regular season) downed the top-seed North Vikings in the championship game after downing No. 2-seed Parkhill (5-2) the night before. Liberty opened tournament action by beating Westwood in the opening round.
The No. 4-seed Apollo girls took the third-place trophy with a win over the Parkhill Raiders in the third-place game. Parkhill had earned a spot in the game with an opening-round win over the No. 7-seed Forest Meadow, while Apollo had downed Lake Highlands in the opening round.
On the consolation side of the bracket, the Lake Highlands girls bounced back from that opening-round loss to beat West (1-6) and Westwood (3-4) for the consolation crown.
7th Grade Boys
The No. 2-seed Westwood Warriors capped a successful 6-1 season as tournament champions with a big win in the championship game over the previously undefeated Lake Highlands Wildcats. The Warriors came out to play in the tournament — taking an opening round win over Liberty (1-6) and then Parkhill (5-2) enroute to the tournament final.
In the third-place game, Parkhill rebounded from its second-round loss to the eventual champion Warriors to win the third-place game over Forest Meadow (4-3). Parkhill had downed North (2-5) in opening-round action to advance on the winners' side of the bracket.
In consolation action, Apollo and Liberty advanced to the consolation championship, but a final result was not yet available. Apollo advance to the consolation championship with a second-round win over the winless West Broncos (0-7), while Liberty downed North (2-5) in the second round.
7th Grade Girls
The Parkhill girls were the only team in the four junior high basketball divisions to come into the tournament with a perfect record (7-0) and to go on to win the tournament championship.
The Raiders capped their perfect season with a win over the No.2-seed Westwood Warriors (6-1) in the championship final. Parkhill advanced to the final with wins over Liberty (4-3) and West (0-7) in the second and first rounds respectively. Westwood earned a spot in the final with back-to-back wins over Apollo (1-6) and Lake Highlands (5-2).
Lake Highlands captured the third-place spot with a win over Liberty (4-3) in the third-place game, while the No. 5-seed Forest Meadow (3-4) took the consolation crown. The Forest Meadow Chargers downed the North Vikings in the consolation final after beating West the night before.