Historic Heights: Berean Sweeps the Eli J. Walter Championships

In January, Berean Academy hosted the 59th Annual Eli J. Walter Basketball Tournament, Kansas’s longest-running girls’ basketball tournament. For the second year in a row, the boys also competed in the Eli J. Walter Tournament.

The girls’ basketball team opened up the tournament with a 52-35 victory over Classical School of Wichita, which was highlighted by a 31-point night for senior Fionna Morgan. In the semifinal round, Berean triumphed over Central Christian School out of Hutchinson by a score of 35-28 to set up a championship match-up against Bennington.

In the quarterfinal round, the Berean boys’ team defeated Central Christian School out of Hutchinson by a score of 56-23. The semifinal round saw the Warriors taking on the KSHSAA 2A Top 5 opponent Classical School of Wichita. Berean rose to the challenge and ran away with the game 52-26.

Weather affected the final day of the tournament, as game times were pushed to a 9:00 am start to avoid incoming winter storms. In front of a packed gym of K-12 students, the girls’ basketball team captured the tournament championship by beating Bennington 44-34 in overtime. Later that afternoon, the Berean boys captured the championship with a 45-27 victory over KSHSAA 2A No. 3 Ell-Saline. This marked the first time in the combined girls’ and boys’ Eli J. Walter Tournament’s brief history that Berean won both the girls’ and boys’ championships. Way to go, Warriors!