PREP HOOPS: Season opens with Evangel tourney this weekend

By TIM GAYLE

Eleven teams will tip off the 2024-25 girls basketball season this weekend at the Evangel Christian Academy Girls Basketball Tipoff Showcase.

Evangel Christian girls basketball coach Haley Rosa said the tournament schedule was carefully prepared to keep area rivals from facing each other.

“I think the tournament field is going to have a lot of competition and that’s key at this early point of the season,” she said. “You want to see where your kids stand. We want to get them out there to play in a true game-like experience, but also get kids out there to see what they’re capable of.

“It’s early enough in the season where no one’s putting bets on who the state champion is going to be, nobody’s getting upset over an early loss. You just want to get your kids out and see how they measure up.”

The tournament started several years ago, but has expanded to 11 girls’ teams from throughout the state, including defending state champion Edgewood and several others, including Sparta and Evangel, that made the AISA state tournament a year ago. The tournament is an attempt to bridge the gap between the start of basketball practice and the first set of games that start the week of Thanksgiving.  

“We had a big gap where we were having trouble finding basketball games for girls and boys,” Rosa said. “So (boys’ basketball coach) Kerwin (Washington) and I did a girls and boys tournament with four teams each just to knock the dust off. It was just strictly to get the kids out and play.

“The next couple of years in eight-man (football), going back into the CFA and now in AISA, football playoffs have pushed basketball back and not very many people, especially (boys’) coaches who coach both sports, are getting on the court, so there was a need for early basketball games.”

The tournament opens on Thursday with four games in the Evangel Christian gym, then takes a break on Friday before resuming with seven games on Saturday.

“The biggest reason is the first round of AISA football playoffs is on that Friday,” Rosa said. “So to avoid conflicts and have teams that couldn’t join because cheerleaders were going to football games, we split those days. The girls are cheerleaders as well as basketball players and they don’t want to miss those football games and want to participate in both.”

ECA GIRLS BASKETBALL TIPOFF SHOWCASE

Thursday

Ezekial vs. North River Christian, 3 p.m.

Springwood School vs. Sparta Academy, 4:30 p.m.

Hooper Academy vs. Abbeville Christian, 6 p.m.

Edgewood Academy vs. Morgan Academy, 7:30 p.m.

Saturday

Restoration Academy vs. Chambers Academy, 10 a.m.

Morgan Academy vs. Ezekial, 11:30 a.m.

Evangel Christian vs. Restoration Academy, 1 p.m.

North River Christian vs. Hooper Academy, 2:30 p.m.

Edgewood Academy vs. Springwood School, 4 p.m.

Chambers Academy vs. Abbeville Christian, 5:30 p.m.

Sparta Academy vs. Evangel Christian, 7 p.m.