Sports Editor

The Christmas holidays is a time to gather friends and loved ones around for a brief episode filled with sharing and festivity.

Just not on the basketball court.

How could any team be expected to be festive when Goshen’s Jamar Tucker slams one of their shots away from the goal? Or CHHS’s Jermaine Jackson slices through the defense for 2-point kiss off the glass? Or be in the mood for sharing when the Lady Trojans’ Clarissa Parker finds a way to get the ball inside for a seemingly impossible easy bucket?

That’s right.

It’s tournament time.

All schools in the Pike County area will be involved in some sort of tournament, or tournaments, for the next two weeks. Most area coaches agree that bracket play is a time to work out the kinks and see how their team matches up against some of the top basketball programs in the south.

In basketball, it’s not where you start, it’s where you end up.

In football, however, almost all games mean something as to where you stand in the state or as where you stand in the region. During high school basketball season, area play usually doesn’t get jumping until after the first of the year. As coaches know, wins can give your team a much-needed boost in confidence early in the year, but it’s in area play where championships are determined.

Like the preseason quarterback getting reps under center, tournament play is a chance for a team to get reps on the court.

And if a tournament title can be captured then all the better.

The CHHS Lady Trojans (4-4) opened in Dothan on Tuesday night with Abbeville, a team they have beaten once already this season. The Girls’ Holiday Prep Classic, held at Northview High School, started on Monday and will conclude with the championship game on Friday night at 7:30 p.m. Also involved in the field of 16 teams are the Pike County Lady Bulldogs and the Goshen Lady Eagles. Pike County (3-6) and Goshen (4-2) also opened on Tuesday night, with the Lady Bulldogs playing Class 6A Dothan, while the Lady Eagles took on Malone, Fla.

Both the Pike Liberal Arts School boys and girls’ basketball teams were involved in the Crenshaw Christian Academy Tournament in Luverne,which started on Monday. After dropping two games to Dixie Academy, the Patriots (3-6) and Lady Patriots (4-5) played the winner of Monday night’s CCA-Ashford Academy game late Tuesday.

PLAS will also be involved in the Dixie Academy Tournament in Louisville on Dec. 28-29.

Patriots’ head coach Jim Bohanan said his team is still looking for a win against a quality basketball team.

"We need to win a game over a good basketball program," he said after his team lost to Lakeside, 64-56, last Friday night. "Once you start losing against these good programs, your confidence level drops and practice starts getting a little harder."

The Class 2A No. 4 Goshen Eagles (6-0) are off this week after claiming the South Eastern Athletic Conference championship on Saturday night. Goshen will head to Dothan next week on Dec. 26 to participate in the Dothan Eagle/Progress Tournament, which features some of the best teams in the Wiregrass and southeast Alabama, such as Randolph-Clay of Georgia, Abbeville and Northview of Dothan.

The Charles Henderson boys’ squad opens the CHHS Annual Christmas Tournament on Thursday night against Geneva County at 7:15 p.m. The Trojans (2-6) will also host Barbour County and Headland, two teams that will meet in the first game of the night at 5:30 p.m.

The Pike County Bulldogs (2-6) will travel to play in the Tallassee Christmas Tournament, starting on Wednesday and concluding on Friday. The Bulldogs will play Reeltown at 8:30 p.m. on Wednesday, Tallassee on Thursday at 7 p.m. and Montgomery LAMP on Friday at 4 p.m. The tournament is round-robin with the team who

completes the tourney with the best record being named the champion.