HoopFest hosted by Academy

— Ozark Adventist Academy in Gentry was the host for the HoopFest tournament on the weekend of Jan. 22-24, with players from grades 6-10 invited to play.

Tulsa Adventist Academy, Ozark Adventist Academy, Ozark Adventist School and Burleson Adventist School each brought boys’ and girls’ teams to play in games on Friday, Saturday night, and Sunday morning.

Each team played three or four games. The gameswere played at the Ozark Adventist Academy gym and at John Brown University’s gym. Coach Ryan Knight, the athletic director at the academy, planned the weekend event.

Students were challenged spiritually by Coach Danny Webb to take the lessons learned in basketball to use in their daily Christian walk.

“To play basketball well, one must exercise and practice often,” Webb said. “To keep a strong relationship with Jesus, one must have prayer and Biblestudy often to know Him better. Encouraging one another as you play basketball is great motivation for the team. Encouraging each other as Christians keeps us motivated in our faith.”

Local players receiving awards were Emily Cook, winning the three-point contest and MVP for her school; and Ashton Fisher, winning the Sportmanship Award. Both players are from Ozark Adventist School.

The academies are already looking forward to next year’s tournament.

Sports, Pages 7 on 02/03/2010