Good competition awaits at SHS tourney
Published 12:00 am Saturday, November 19, 2011
Straughn’s girls basketball program will hold its fifth annual Thanksgiving tournament Nov. 21-23 at SHS.
The Lady Tigers will play host to seven other teams from around the Wiregrass to their annual tournament, which helps raise funds for the program to help buy uniforms, basketballs and shoes.
SHS girls basketball coach Scott Kinsaul said the tournament is a good lead-up to the competitive games before Christmas.
“We just have it to have three games in three days to see what we need to work on,” Kinsaul said. “I’ve had a lot of compliments on it. We’re excited about the teams that are coming in. We’ll have some quality competition with some quality players coming in.”
The other teams that are participating in the tournament are Luverne, Houston Academy, Red Level, Brantley, Elba, Opp and Greenville.
There will be four games played on each day, with the first game beginning at 3 p.m. on the first and second days. On the last day of the tournament, the earliest game will be at 11 a.m. to decide the seventh and eighth place teams. The championship game will be held at 3:30 p.m. on Wednesday.
Kinsaul said another reason why the tournament is good for the team is because it will let him know what still needs work.
“We want to see what our strengths and weaknesses are,” he said. “People are getting tired of scrimmaging each other. It gives us an opportunity to play some great competition, and to see what our strengths and weaknesses are on our team.”
Admission to the tournament is $5 per person, per day. The admission price allows the spectator to watch four games per day.
Kinsaul said with this tournament, there’s really no clear indication of who will win it.
“Brantley, Opp and Elba, Houston Academy and Luverne and Red Level — they were competitive last year,” Kinsaul said. “They’ll add some depth to the tournament. Anybody can win it. We can play this tournament four times and have four different winners.”
Game one of the tournament will be at 3 p.m. on Monday between Houston Academy and Red Level.