For the first time in the program’s three-year history, the Capital City Lady Cavaliers will take part in the Jefferson Bank Holiday Hoops Classic, and they won’t have to travel far.
The girls’ holiday tournament will be in the Capital City gym for the first time this season, starting Dec. 27 and hosting four games a day through Dec. 29.
“I think it’s huge,” Capital City coach Ashley Agee said of getting to host the 30-year old tournament. “Us being a new program and not having leaders these past few years, … the girls don’t really know much about the Holiday Hoops Tournament or the Great 8 and kind of what it means to our community.
“Just teaching them a bit about the history and the past of this tournament and what it means with all the local teams. We get to host it in our facilities, I think it’s huge for the community and for our school.”
The Classic has been played in recent years at Rackers Fieldhouse at Helias.
“It’s nice having the home-court advantage, but going to Capital City will be fun,” Helias coach Garrett Wiggans said. “We don’t think it will be a huge deal not to play at home, it’s a great gym with a lot of space.”
Helias will play in the first game of the event, squaring off against St. Joseph Benton, who finished fourth in the Class 4 state tournament last season.
“Benton is very good and we’re going to be tested right off the bat,” Wiggans said.
The Blair Oaks Lady Falcons will square off against Blue Springs South in the third game of the opening day.
“Competition is the biggest thing, there are always great teams in the tournament,” Blair Oaks coach Brandon Moore said. “Win or lose, you learn a lot about your team and you have the opportunity to try a few different things.”
The Jefferson City Lady Jays will play in the third game on the opening day, squaring off against the Hickman Kewpies in a contest of Central Missouri Activities Conference foes.
Jefferson City coach Kay Foster is excited to see how her team will fare against the quality competition in the Classic.
“Our kids will be playing quality teams that will provide us the opportunity to grow,” Foster said. “Each team will have a different style of play and if we’re going to win a district championship, we’re going to need to be familiar with what works offensively and defensively against those styles.”
Foster believes the quick turnaround of playing three games in three days could be to Jefferson City’s advantage in the Classic.
“Our team does a really great job in scouting and game preparation,” she said. “Our kids do a good job of understanding what we want to do, they might not be able to execute it right now with our inexperience, but this will be a very good time to work on that execution.”
Capital City will open its tournament against Vashon in the closing game on the first day. The Wolverines took third last year in the Class 4 state tournament and return three starters. Capital City returns most of its team from last season when the Lady Cavaliers’ ended the season 4-21.
“It’s a very tough bracket, I just want us to be competitive, to play at a high level against those teams, who are good teams, who might be state ranked or up there getting votes,” Agee said. “Just being competitive and seeing if we can pull out a win or two here. Just seeing what high-level basketball looks like and being able to prepare for it. … It will be a good experience for them.
“We’re just super excited about it,” she added. “Looking forward to the competition and hope all ends well.”