A cornhole tournament fundraiser held Sunday, Sept. 24 brought over 50 members of the Wareham community out to support its boys basketball team.

The Wareham High School Vikings basketball team won the Division 4 state championship in March. Now, the team has an opportunity for a victory lap, with an invitation to play in a national tournament held by the Kaylee Scholarship Association.

The tournament will be held in Florida in December. The boy’s basketball team needs $40,000 to make the trip. To date, community fundraising has gathered approximately $20,000 for the cause.

Assistant Coach Aaron Baptiste said he hasn’t seen this much community support for a sports team in Wareham in a long time. 

With most of the team coming back for the 2023-24 season, with the exception of one senior who graduated in the spring, the team has a chance to run at the title again, said Baptiste. 

Andrea Lopes, one of the event organizers, said those running the fundraising efforts wanted to host a cornhole tournament in order to draw in a new crowd to help support their goal.

Twenty-six teams, each with two people, took part in the cornhole tournament at Stone Path Malt, a brewery at 11 Kendrick Road. 

Mark St. Jean, co-founder of Stone Path Malt, said the brewery is proud to be in Wareham and happy to support the kids trying to get down to Florida.

One of the tournament participants echoed that sentiment: the kids played well enough to travel and play in a tournament, and he was happy to support them, he said. 

For more information on future fundraising efforts, visit the Road to Florida - Wareham Boys Basketball Facebook page.