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Tony ‘Lil Tony’ Webster, Jr.
Tony ‘Lil Tony’ Webster, Jr.
BLUEFIELD — On January 26, 2019, Gov. Jim Justice declared January 7 as Lil Tony Webster Interscholastic Memorial Day in West Virginia.
On Saturday, the first athletic event organized specifically to observe that official day will be held locally.
The first Lil Tony Memorial Classic — which is expected to be an annual event — tips off at Brushfork Armory on Saturday. The event is named after late Beavers athlete Lil Tony Webster, who died suddenly in January of 2019 of an aneurysm while weight lifting.
“After Tony passed away, Governor Jim Justice declared January the 7 as the Lil Tony Interscholastic Day. So we’ve put together a memorial tournament in honor of Tony with six teams altogether,” said Tony Webster, Sr., Lil Tony’s father and longtime Bluefield High School coach.
The fund raising event will feature six basketball games — two of which will include highly-ranked WVSSAC boys basketball programs.
The day’s action begins with a showdown between Bluefield Middle School and Princeton Middle School at 12 noon. Defending WVSSAC Class AA state champion Poca will face Graham in a 2 p.m. varsity game. The nightcap will pit Bluefield against Shady Spring at 4 p.m.
In preseason rankings, Bluefield was ranked No. 1 among WVSSAC Class AA teams while Shady Spring was ranked No. 1 in the Class AAA preseason rankings. Poca, which is the Class AA defending state champ, was ranked No. 8 in the preseason rankings. Led by Isaac McKneely — now playing for the University of Virginia — the Dots defeated the Beavers in last year’s Class AA state finals in Charleston.
Coach Webster said the tournament was the brainchild of himself, Beavers head basketball coach Buster Large, Bluefield High School principal Michael Collins and County Commissioner Greg Puckett and Community Connections.
Chick-fil-a is also an event sponsor and has volunteered to feed all the participating players. Also, the community has put together ‘swag bags’ to distribute to all the players.
“They’re going to get T-shirts ... a bag ... water bottles ... towels. The stuff will all have logos on them plus an ‘LT’ for Lil Tony,” Coach Webster said.
The cost of admission will be the normal price of admission for the middle school and varsity games, respectively. Fans will need to pay separately for each game session.
Coach Webster noted that there will also be several fund raising raffles held at the tournament, with prizes including three recliners (one given away for each game), a diamond ring, and a television set.
“Chick-fil-a will have their cow [mascot] there to interact with the kids. But other than that, it’s all basketball,” Coach Webster said.
All proceeds from the event will go to the Lil Tony Scholarship Foundation, which awards two scholarships per year to graduating students from Mercer County.
“It’s called the Forever Five Lil Tony Scholarship,” Coach Webster said.
— Contact sports@bdtonline.com
10 a.m., at Seaver Funeral Home in Princeton. Interment will follow at Restlawn Memorial Gardens in Bluefield.
2 p.m., graveside service at Roselawn Memorial Gardens Mausoleum in Princeton.
SARASOTA — Charles Booker "Tazz" Perdue, passed away peacefully at his home in Sarasota, FL on December 24, 2022 at the age of 83 with his son David by his side. He was born and raised in Brushfork, WV on October 18, 1939 to the late Clayton A. and Beulah J. Perdue. Tazz served in the US Arm…
Noon, at Seaver Funeral Home in Princeton. Interment will follow at Roselawn Memorial Gardens in Princeton.
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