Ben Whitehead
VELMA — The Third Annual First National Bank Comets Hoops Classic tips off Thursday morning at Velma-Alma High School. Both boys and girls teams will be competing in the tournament that runs through Saturday with the championship game being held at 7 p.m.
Velma-Alma boys coach Kenny Bare said the school is excited to be hosting the event once again and looks forward to another great tournament.
“The previous two tournaments have provided us and the fans with some great basketball games,” said Bare. “We know that everything off the court will be just as good as the previous two years. We hope the play on the court is just as good as well.”
The tournament begins Thursday morning as the Duncan J.V. girls take on No. 1 seed Amber-Pocasset at 11 a.m. Healdton, the No. 2-seed, will take on Verden with that game scheduled at 1:40 p.m. Rush Springs comes into the tournament as the No. 3 seed and will play Carnegie at 4:20 p.m.
The final girls game on Thursday will be the first of many between two area schools. Bray-Doyle and Velma-Alma will play at 7 p.m., but it won’t be the last time the two meet this season.
“We compete against Bray-Doyle in a lot of sports,” said Lady Comet coach Jerry Garrett. “They are in our conference and we’re in a lot of the same tournaments this year so we could possibly see them five times, including in the post-season.
“One of our goals at the beginning of the season was to be in the finals of all three tournaments we’re playing in. This is our first step towards that goal.”
On the boys’ side of things, Healdton comes in as the No. 1 seed and will take on the Plainview J.V. team at 12:20 p.m.
Third-seeded Carnegie and sixth-seeded Amber-Pocasset will tip-off at 3 p.m. The No. 4 seed Comets will play Verden at 5:40 p.m.
Bray-Doyle is the No. 2 seed and will play in the final game of the day against Rush Springs at 8:20 p.m.
“Verden will be a great matchup for for us,” Bare said. “It’s the No. 4 seed versus the No. 5 seed in the first game so it is expected to be a great game. We’ll have our hands full and be ready for a tough game.”
One of the interesting stories of this year’s tournament has nothing to do with what will happen on the court.
Velma-Alma has teamed up with Coaches vs. Cancer in support of the American Cancer Society’s fight against the disease. All of the coaches will wear special shirts and tennis shoes during Friday’s games. The Velma-Alma cheerleaders will be passing around buckets during halftime of the games to collect donations. All of the money collected Friday will go to the ACS.
“It all started with Jimmy Valvano. He is such a tremendous inspiration to all coaches that knew something about him,” said Bare. “It started out as a college deal and now it’s trickled down to the high school ranks. We’re just real excited to be a part of it.”
Garrett, an avid college basketball fan, is glad to help the cause as well. He has watched the Coaches vs. Cancer Classic for many years in the college ranks and is glad to be a part of it as a high school coach.
“It’s a big deal with the Coaches vs. Cancer and the Jimmy V Foundation,” Garrett said. “Every year, you hear the stories that people tell about how this money is going to good use and it’s really changing some people who have cancer. To have the opportunity to help out with the research and be a part of something like this is really good.”
Bare said donations will be accepted throughout the tournament, but Friday will be the day Velma-Alma will focus on collecting donations.
-Ben Whitehead is a sports writer for The Duncan Banner. He can be reached at 255-5354, Ext. 165, or via e-mail at ben.whitehead@duncanbanner.com.
