Seven basketball teams from around the area will descend on Pea Ridge beginning Thursday.
"This will benefit us as well as our community," Blackhawk basketball coach Trent Loyd said. "We wanted to get a lot of the top teams in and around our classification here. It gives us a chance to see where we're at. It's good for the community to come out and watch some good basketball."
The Battle at the Ridge Tournament
Thursday, Dec. 10-Saturday, Dec. 12
4 p.m., 5:30 p.m., 7 p.m., 8:30 p.m. Thurs. & Fri.
11:30 a.m., 1 p.m., 2:30 p.m., 4 p.m. Sat.
Tickets: $5 adults/$3 students
Pea Ridge High Blackhawk Gym
The Battle at the Ridge Tournament begins at 4 p.m. Thursday, Dec. 10, and continues through Saturday.
Teams participating are Pea Ridge, Decatur, North Pulaski (Little Rock, a 5A team), Pierce City, Mo., Greenland (3A), Riverview, Malvern and Providence Academy (Rogers).
Riverview is in the top five teams in 4A, Loyd said, and has one of the top prospects in the sophomore class.
Malvern, a top 3 team has a player who is 6'5" and has already signed to play college ball, Loyd said.
Providence Academy, a private school in Rogers, has S.K. Shittu, a 6'10" player who has already received offers to play at Alabama.
"They're really good teams," he said. "An event like this will bring money to the athletic program and to the community as well."
He said Bentonville has already committed to participate in the tournament next year.
"I think this tournament will be as big and popular as we want it to be," Loyd said, adding that Pea Ridge is housing the out-of-state teams at the Marriot Courtyard and feeding every team after the games. "We're treating them well. We want to do it right."
Sports on 12/09/2015