USave It Classic begins Thursday at Monroe

This might just be the best time of the year for high school basketball fans in Albany because the annual USave It Pharmacy Classic will bring the opportunity for local fans to see 16 basketball games over three days this week.

Local schools Monroe, Dougherty County, and Westover are staples in the shootout, but this year Deerfield Windsor has also been added to the historic tournament.

The USave It Classic is among the oldest high school Christmas tournaments in the state of Georgia that evolved from a Christmas tournament which started at Albany High School years ago. When the Dougherty County Schools decided to close Albany High School, the games were moved to Westover and this year the games are moving again – this time to the new gymnasium at Monroe High School. The tournament started out with both boys and girls teams competing but has now changed into all boys.

“This classic gives our players an opportunity to see teams we don’t normally see in our regular schedule,” said Coach Ralph Wilson. Wilson, an assistant at Dougherty County High, is in charge of the event. “These games create a playoff atmosphere and give us a chance to see different types of play. Most of these schools come every year because of the great competition.”

Glynn Academy, Wayne County, Statesboro, and SE Bulloch from southeastern Georgia will travel over for the three days. Stewart County, Crisp County, Terrell County, Lee County, and Colquitt County will all appear during the three days.

The Dougherty County Trojans will kick off the competition Thursday with a game against Colquitt County at 4:00 p.m. Crisp County will follow with a game against Statesboro, then Westover will play Glynn Academy. Monroe will end the first night of competition at 8 p.m. against SE Bulloch.

While none of the Albany public schools will play each other during the classic, the event will end Saturday night with a game between Monroe and Deerfield Windsor.