No votes were cast and debates weren't needed to decide the early favorites in elementary basketball. The teams settled it on the hardwood last week while battling in the preseason 7-8 grade tournament at Irving College.

The Centertown girls and Irving College boys took home the hardware as the Lady Warriors beat the Irving College Lady Tigers in the finals 27-16 and the Tigers tamed the Centertown Warriors 36-22. 

Teams were battling for local bragging rights all last week, but only two squads could leave three nights of pressure-packed games unbeaten. Both the Lady Warriors and Tigers were able to emerge atop their brackets by playing solid team basketball and riding hot hands to victory.

Anden Green again was lethal for the Tigers, keeping his average for the tournament above 20 points per game by dropping 18 in the finals. He had 14 during a dominant first half where the Tigers went up 26-9 and Irving College never looked back from there.

"I was impresive by the ball movement the most," said coach Tyler Morton about his Tigers having a solid first week. "All the way down the roster, we searched for the best shot - not the forced one."

Ball movement, getting open looks and making sure everybody stay involved was the same recipe for the Lady Warriors in a championship win. 

Centertown used its superior depth to wear down Irving College and had a wide assortment of scorers spark the team, including Kinlsey Jarvis and Karysn Mathis finishing with eight points apiece to lead the way.

Rylee Young (five points) and Presley Winfree (four points) joined Jarvis and Mathis on the all-tourney team for their efforts in leading Centertown to three staight wins last week.

"This team has the potential for offensive versatilty - we'll see it we'll hit the mark. I think we did best (last week) with defensive intensity and transitioning into fast breaks," said Centertown coach Kelly Eckenrod.

After both won three straight games, all in impressive fashion, to claim the preseason titles, Morton and Eckenrod agreed that expectations - both in their own program and outside from opponents - will rise.

"Confidence-wise, this showed us we what we are capable of, but - seeing the teams we did - also showed us it will be a hard rood. We saw a lot of good competition," said Morton. "This will help with our confidence and it really helps our will to work hard for the ultimate goal all teams will be chasing this season."

Eckenrod added, "The preseason championship sets the bar high and challenges us to work harder on our weaknesses."

The elementary regular season will begin Monday with a trio of games. Those are: Boyd at Centertown, Dibrell at Eastside and Irving College at Morrison. All games will begin at 6 p.m.

Girls Championship scoring

Lady Warriors - Kinsley Jarvis 8, Karysn Mathis 8, Rylee Young 5, Presley Winfree 4, Stella Dunn 2

Lady Tigers - Summer Wanamaker 9, Zara Laxson 6, Savannah Fults 1

Boys championship scoring 

Tigers - Anden Green 18, Drystan Cantrell 7, Mason Petrovic 5, Peyton Rucker 2, Trenton Martin 2, Eastlan Green 2

Warriors - Aiden Carter 6, Jack Moore 4, Wesley Romzek 4, Isaac Smith 3, Kiptyn Medley 3,  Harrison Sparkman 1, Mohammed Kanakrieh 1