The Harry Johnson Holiday Classic provided three days of exciting basketball action, with the Tunstall High School boys’ team and the Orange County girls’ teams winning tournament championships on Thursday evening.
Tunstall defeated George Washington High by a final score of 60-58. To reach the championship round, Tunstall received a bye in the first round, while GW defeated the Gretna Hawks on Tuesday. GW went on to defeat Chatham 71-53. In the second round, Tunstall blew past Norfolk Academy 60-36 to move onto the championship round against GW.
To win the girls’ tournament, Orange County defeated George Washington High by a final score of 64-44. To get to the championship round, the Lady Eagles defeated Gretna on Tuesday, 52-49. Orange easily defeated Tunstall on Wednesday, 49-6 to advance to the final round.
The tournament featured six high school basketball boys’ teams, four high school girls’ teams, and three middle school boys’ teams competing over three days — Tuesday, Dec. 27, Wednesday, Dec. 28, and Thursday, Dec. 29 — at the George Washington High School gymnasium.
The tournament honors the late Harry Johnson, who coached the GW boys’ team for 19 years and led them to a state championship in 1996.
The high school boys’ teams played in a traditional tournament-style format that included rivals GW, Chatham, Gretna, and Tunstall. They were joined by Westover Christian Academy and Norfolk Academy.
The high school girls’ teams also played in a traditional tournament-style format that included rivals GW, Gretna, and Tunstall. They were joined by Orange County.
The middle school boys’ teams were Bonner, Martinsville, and Westwood. They played in a round-robin format.
There were two sessions each day — day and evening.