Members of the “War on the Wood” championship eighth-grade team from North Jefferson Middle School are (left to right) Jacob Sheffield, Logan Motte, Mark Louis, Hunter Reed, Orion Recke, Coach Brad Thomas, Ben Hardiman, Seth Barnett, Connor Moon, Luke Agnesia, and Ty Miller.

The North Jefferson Middle School eighth grade boys basketball team captured the championship of its own “War on the Wood” holiday tournament, held December 29-30.

The Blue Devils started out with a 40-24 first-round victory over Birmingham’s W. J. Christian School. Ben Hardiman led with 10 points, and Ty Miller had eight.

North Jefferson followed that with a semifinal win over then-undefeated Arab, running out to a 24-8 lead in the first half and cruising from there to a 41-26 final score. Hardiman and Orion Recke paced the Devils with 14 points each.

In the final contest against Maddox Middle School, the Devils finally faced their first close matchup, holding a slim one-point advantage after three quarters. But North Jefferson was able to draw the lead out in the final quarter and won 39-31. Hardiman scored 13 points, Mark Louis had 11 and Recke added 10.

Hardiman won tournament MVP, and Recke made the all-tournament team.

In the seventh-grade division, North Jefferson placed third behind Maddox and Arab.

From staff reports