Harpers Ferry Fireflies shine bright once again with fourth National Tournament title ...
The Harpers Ferry Fireflies once again reign as Granny Basketball National Tournament Champions after sweeping through the eight-team field of the National Granny Basketball Tournament held in Prairie du Chien, WI July 16 and 17. Pictured above with their National Tournament Championship trophy are members of this year’s team. Left to right - Front row: Kaysia Mahr-Whalen; Second row: Georgia Jones, Tina Hendrix, Barb Tomlinson, Bonnie Jones, Donna Matti; Third row: Coach Bill Nation, Jackie Friederich, Rosanne Wicks, Betty Steege, Margaret Hermeier, Assistant Coach Ron Steege; Back row:
Linda Mahr, Sherry Adney, Maurine Monroe, Judy Kelly, Karen Wagner, Sally Light. Photo courtesy of B&C Studios of Holmen, WI.
The eight-team tournament was first divided up into two pools of four teams playing Friday, with the Fireflies sweeping through Pool B of the tournament with wins over the Cedar Rapids Bloomers (who finished pool play 2-1), the Dubuque Cuties (1-2) and IowKanWinIt (0-3). Pool A was swept by the defending National Tournament Champion (from 2019; there was no 2020 tournament due to the COVID pandemic) Cedar Rapids Sizzlers, who also went 3-0, followed by the Center Point Model T’s (2-1), Classic Road Runners (1-2) and Wild Things (0-3).
Saturday’s competition was played in a single-elimination tournament in both a winners bracket of the top four pool play teams and a losers bracket of the bottom four pool play teams. In that winners bracket, the Harpers Ferry Fireflies first defeated the Model T’s, 53-28, before also defeating the Cedar Rapids Sizzlers in a rematch from the last National Tournament championship game played in 2019, the Fireflies posting a 41-31 victory to win their fourth National Tournament Championship in the past six years, having won three consecutive National Tournament titles in 2016 through 2018. The Model T’s finished third and the Bloomers fourth in this year’s winners bracket. In the losers bracket, the Classic Roadrunners finished first, the Wild Things placed second, the Dubuque Cuties came in third and IowKanWinIt finished fourth.
