High school basketball on a Sunday?
Wrestling on New Year’s Day?
Hey, it may not be the ideal schedule, but it is what is facing some local athletes as they take part in holiday tournament week.
Tournament week is when local teams often take to the road to take on some top-notch competition.
And if you’re trying to schedule a five-day basketball tournament in between Christmas and New Year’s, that may involve playing games on Sunday.
That’s what happened to the Prairie boys and girls basketball teams.
On Sunday, the Prairie boys opened play in the Les Schwab Invitational at Liberty High School in Hillsboro, Ore., with a 69-41 loss to Westview of Beaverton, Ore.
The tournament actually started Saturday with games, but Prairie’s first game was not until Sunday. Prairie will play games today, Tuesday and Wednesday, regardless of the outcome, as the Falcons get ready for the start of league play.
The Prairie girls basketball team also was in action on Sunday, losing to St. John the Baptist of New York 61-56 in the opening round of the First Orthopaedic Cup bracket of the Diamond State Classic in Wilmington, Del.
The Prairie girls will get today off before completing the tournament with games on Tuesday and Wednesday.
And usually the Pacific Coast Championship wrestling tournament is held on the final weekend of the year. But that fell over Christmas weekend this year. So this year’s Pac Coast event will take place next year.
Wait a minute, I think I confused even myself there.
This season’s Pac Coast event will be held Friday and Saturday at Hudson’s Bay High School — or Jan. 1 and 2 of 2010.
Evergreen, Skyview, Mountain View, Heritage, Union and Ridgefield are scheduled to send wrestlers to compete at Bay.
Here’s a quick look at other teams involved in holiday tournament and special events this week.
Basketball
Wyoming may not be first on most folks’ list as a late December destination. But it has been a popular place to visit for Clark County basketball teams.
The Prairie boys and girls teams have played in the Energy Classic in Gillette, Wyo., in previous years. This year, it’s the Hockinson boys basketball team making the trip.
The Hawks open the Energy Classic with a 4:15 p.m. game today against Bismarck, N.D. The tournament continues through Wednesday.
The Battle Ground boys will return to the three-day Abby’s Holiday Classic in Medford, Ore., today. Playing in two-day events are the Heritage boys (Hermiston, Ore.), Woodland boys (Castle Rock) and Hudson’s Bay girls (Mark Morris).
The Redmond boys basketball team will travel to Clark County for a pair of non-league games — on Tuesday at Union and Wednesday at Camas.
The Skyview boys basketball team will play North Eugene at 2 p.m. Wednesday at the Rose Garden in Portland.
And the Skyview girls opened the Nike Interstate Shootout in Lake Oswego, Ore., with a loss to Franklin of Portland on Saturday.
After getting Sunday off, the Storm will play games today, Tuesday and Wednesday in that event.
Wrestling
While the Pacific Coast Championship remains the biggest event of the week, many area teams have opted to go elsewhere for competition.
Mountain View will take part in the Northwest Duals at Westview High in Beaverton, Ore., today and Tuesday. Camas will go to the Tumwater Tournament on Wednesday and Woodland will compete in the Tenino Triple Duals.
And the calendar forced the Washougal Invitational to go head-to-head with the Pac Coast Championships on Saturday. Still, several local teams will head to Washougal on Saturday — Battle Ground, Fort Vancouver, Prairie and Hockinson.
Tim Martinez is the assistant sports editor/prep coordinator for The Columbian. He can be reached by phone at 360-735-4538 or e-mail at tim.martinez@columbian.com
