Following that December state semifinal push, the Greyhounds stepped right into district basketball play going 2-0 before the Christmas break.
Gruver took that momentum from a strong district start and used it by defending its home court bringing home the NextEra Gruver Holiday Classic championship getting two huge wins on Saturday.
The Greyhounds (6-0 overall) had to earn every bit of this championship playing two very strong opponents in Texline and Dalhart on Saturday.
In a tournament semifinal Saturday afternoon that drew a packed crowd, Gruver was able to pull away from Texline in a marquee matchup down the stretch for a hard fought 60-49 victory.
A few hours later, the Greyhounds turned around and fended off a talented Dalhart team 47-44 in overtime to win the tournament crown.
Freshman Mason Lankford, the son of Gruver girls basketball coach Trent, is off to a stellar start to his high school basketball career. Lankford finished with 11 points against Texline and eight in the win over the Golden Wolves.
Complimenting the fantastic freshman was Brock Butler. The hot-shooting guard went for 19 against Highland Park, 13 in the win over Texline and eight in the championship victory against Dalhart.
Dax Conyers was also clutch in the Texline win pouring in 13 points including seven of those in the final two minutes that helped seal the game.
Despite the loss to Gruver, Dalhart had a very strong showing in the tournament going 3-1 overall.
On Friday, the Golden Wolves beat Follett 52-39 then followed that effort with a 47-34 win against Stratford.
During Saturday mornings semifinal, Dalhart punched a ticket to the championship game getting past Pampa 40-24 before giving Gruver everything the Greyhounds could handle.
Maddix Blanco poured in 21 points against Stratford knocking down seven 3-pointers and tallied 16 in the loss to Gruver.
Pampa was also 3-1 getting third place. The Harvesters had to earn the final win in dramatic fashion beating Texline on Saturday in the third-place game 68-67 with a putback shot from Parker Webb that beat the buzzer for the thrilling victory.
To open the tourney Friday, Pampa knocked off Stratford 51-46 and defeated Follett 61-30. The only loss was to Dalhart 40-24. Over those four games, Dalton Booth led the Harvesters averaging 16.5 points a night.
The Lady Antelopes are an impressive team in Class 2A off to a 21-2 start on the year.
Whitefaces picked up some solid wins in Gruver defeating West Plains 49-40, then Childress 55-19 on Friday.
On Saturday, Whiteface handled Stratford 42-31 and held off Texline 32-26. Jaedyn Rector was impressive against West Plains going for 19 points.
The Lady Wolves did rebound after that loss to Whiteface beating Childress 67-31 on Friday, followed by lopsided victories against Gruver, 63-45, and Bushland, 66-50 on Saturday.
