Kirby, which plays in the Jessieville Holiday Classic this weekend, returns to Garland County early next year for the Spa City Classic at Bank of the Ozarks Arena.
Kirby's girls, who defeated Poyen in the 2010 Class 1A final at then-Summit Arena, face Cutter Morning Star in the tournament opener at 10 a.m. Friday, Jan. 2. Kirby's boys follow against Mountain Pine.
The first-day schedule includes a marquee girls' matchup between Jessieville and Harding Academy at 7 p.m. Jessieville won when the teams met last year in the Spa City Classic, but Harding Academy reached the Class 3A final against winner eStem Charter of Little Rock. Senior point guard Riley Rose, a Missouri State signee, leads Harding Academy while sophomore post Kellie Lampo paces Jessieville.
Garland County Athletic Association sponsors the two-day Spa City Classic, which replaced the Garland County Invitational on several local schools' January schedules. Other first-day boys games are CMS vs. Parkers Chapel at 2:30 p.m., Fountain Lake vs. Harding Academy at 5:30 p.m. and Jessieville vs. Poyen at 8:30 p.m. Other girls games Jan. 2 are Mountain Pine vs. Parkers Chapel at 1 p.m. and Fountain Lake vs. Poyen at 4 p.m.
Fountain Lake faces Harding Academy's girls at 7 p.m. and Poyen's boys at 8:30 p.m. on Saturday, Jan. 3. Second-day action starts at 10 a.m. with a Kirby-Mountain Pine girls game, followed by CMS-Kirby boys, CMS-Parkers Chapel girls, Mountain Pine-Parkers Chapel boys, Jessieville-Poyen girls and Jessieville-Harding Academy boys.
Jessieville's two-day classic starts at 4 p.m. today with a Kirby-Wonderview doubleheader, girls playing first, after which both Jessieville teams face Nemo Vista. The pairings are reversed for Saturday's four games at Jessieville Sports Arena with Kirby girls tipping against Nemo Vista in the noon opener and Jessieville later playing two games against Wonderview.
Wonderview senior girls forward Bailey Zimmerman, an all-state performer last year, signed in November with the Arkansas Razorbacks. Wonderview and Nemo Vista are Class 1A-5 North rivals.
Nemo Vista won the Class 1A girls' title in March, the Red Hawks downing Wonderview 37-32 in the final at Summit Arena after topping Kirby 49-33 in the semifinals at Harrison. Jessieville lost 51-49 to Paris in the 3A quarterfinals at Charleston.
Fountain Lake is host to a two-day classic starting at 2 p.m. Saturday and resuming at 4 p.m. Monday. Cutter Morning Star, Benton Harmony Grove and Perryville also are represented with varsity girls and boys teams.
Other matchups tonight include Batesville at Lakeside, CMS at Ouachita and Waldron at Fountain Lake.
Sports on 12/19/2014