Lil Tony Webster Classic basketball tournament on Saturday

Feb. 2—BRUSHFORK — The Second Annual Lil' Tony Webster Memorial Classic basketball tournament will be played on Saturday at Brushfork Armory.

The event, which is a fundraiser for two scholarships given out yearly in Lil Tony Webster's honor, will feature games by two Mercer County high school girls basketball teams and six boys teams from both sides of the West Virginia-Virginia state line. In addition, assorted fun events will be held between games.

Anthony Alexander Webster III, also known as "Lil Tony, was a member of the Bluefield High School football team and the son of longtime Bluefield High School football and basketball assistant coach Tony Webster.

The youngster died unexpectedly of an aneurysm on Jan. 16, 2019. He was a junior in the Bluefield High School Class of 2020 and played full back on the 2017 Bluefield High School State Championship football team. He was becoming an accomplished powerlifter at the time of his death.

In addition to his activities at school, he was also an active member of the Mount Zion Baptist and the John Stewart United Methodist Church.

"There's not a day that goes by without thinking of my son. He was a wonderful young man. He was a wonderful athlete. He was a model student, so we just want to continue to live his legacy and that's the way that I like to coach the kids I have down at the high school," Webster Sr. said during an interview by Greg Jordan of the Bluefield Daily Telegraph last January.

Basketball action begins at 12 noon with a showdown between the Bluefield High School girls and the Mercer Christian Academy girls team.

Action continues at 2 p.m. with the Tazewell High School boys taking on the Mercer Christian Academy boys team.

The Graham boys squad will face Oak Hill at 4 p.m. and the grand finale game at 6 p.m. will pit the Bluefield Beavers versus Woodrow Wilson.