Some changes have been made as the Chadron Rotary Club’s annual George Watson Holiday Basketball Classic enters its 14th year. Teams from two western Nebraska schools are joining the Chadron Cardinals and the Valentine Badgers in the competition.
They are Bridgeport and Ogallala, replacing Hemingford and Custer, S.D., in the brackets. But, as usual, the games will be played in the Chicoine Center at Chadron State College. This year’s dates are Monday and Tuesday, Dec. 30 and 31.
The first-round pairings on Monday have the Bridgeport and Valentine girls opening the action at 3 p.m CT., followed by the boys from those schools at 4:30. The girls from Chadron and Ogallala will take the court at 6 o’clock CT , and the boys’ teams meeting at 7:30. The Valentine games can be heard on KVSH Radio with Birk Burge.
The consolation games on Tuesday will begin with the girls’ tilt at 11 a.m CT. and the boys’ contest at 12:30. The championship games will be at 2 and 3:30CT with the girls playing first.
Chadron and Valentine have been involved in the classic from the start while Hemingford did not participate the first year in 2011, but has been involved every year since then. While the Bobcats never won a championship, the girls reached the finals three years in a row beginning in 2014 and the boys also were finalists that year.
The Hemingford teams have not been as competitive the past few years and decided to take a break from the classic this year. Custer’s participation dates back to 2017 and its Wildcats have been strong contenders on both sides of the bracket. Each team has won three championships and was a runner-up another time.
Chadron High Activities Director Rick Barry said a scheduling conflict prevented Custer from entering the classic this year, but school officials said they would appreciate being invited to participate again in the future. That may work out well, because Barry said he and other classic organizers hope to expand the event into an eight-team affair, beginning this coming year.