Teams from South Carolina and North Carolina head to the court at Landrum High School this week in the 12th annual Battle of the Border.
The basketball tournament runs Dec. 28-30, with the championship games at 7 p.m. for the final two girls teams and 8:30 p.m. for the final two boys teams to go head to head.
“It’s good to have competition over the holidays – playing different teams with different strengths,” said LHS Varsity Boys Basketball Coach Lyn Smith. “We have 4A, 3A, 2A and 1A. It’s better than practice, because they get to actually put their skills to use and possibly win a trophy at the end of it all.”
With eight girls’ and eight boys’ teams competing, the tournament includes eight games the first day starting at 10 a.m. (see brackets for initial schedules).
Smith said most of the teams come back every year and he said he always has a lot of teams wanting to get in because of the facility and the atmosphere. This year, Smith said the boys’ side would have a new champion as the 2010 champion Union County has decided to play in another tournament.
On the girls bracket however East Rutherford continues to be a threat. The team has won the tourney several times and will be back this year, making them the team to beat, Smith said.
Smith said this is a fun thing for families to come to especially since children under age 6 get into the games free.