On March 19, Excelsior Springs put the finishing touch on its varsity boys basketball season. That night, the Tigers held their end-of-season banquet at the high school, with coach Chad Wright giving out multiple awards. Seniors Rakai Gantt and Brendan Blackburn were co-Most Valuable Player Award recipients. Gantt and senior Trevor Stanton were co-Offensive Player of the Year Award recipients. In other awards news, Blackburn was named Defensive Player of the Year, sophomore Jake Zapata received the Most Improved Player Award and sophomore Carson Gholson received the Newcomer of the Year Award. Gantt and Blackburn also were recognized for their alldistrict and all-conference honors. The ceremony took place 18 days after the Tigers had ended their season with a district semifinal loss to Odessa. The Tigers finished 7-21. The season started with four straight losses. The Tigers got their first win by defeating Odessa in the Husker Classic. After dropping its next two games, Excelsior…