Downtown Dothan tourney pairings set

The road to the Third Annual Downtown Dothan Hoops Classic title starts with several rivalries plus a tough opening assignment for the defending champion.

Pairings for the event, presented by Hobo Pantry Food Stores and The Cochran Firm and sponsored by the City of Dothan and WTVY News 4, was drawn Monday night at the Wiregrass Museum of Art.

This year’s tournament is set for Dec. 26-27 and Dec. 29-31 at the Dothan Civic Center.

Like last year, 16 teams will compete in the tournament, including all four programs in Dothan — city schools Dothan and Northview and private schools Houston Academy and Providence Christian.

Other teams in the tournament are Ashford, Dale County, Geneva, Georgiana, Headland, Houston County, G.W. Long, Malone (Fla.), New Brockton, Rehobeth, Slocomb and Wicksburg.

Ashford, Wicksburg and G.W. Long are new teams, replacing Goshen, Seminole County (Ga.) and Ariton.

One of the first match-ups finalized Monday was one between longtime rivals Houston Academy and Wicksburg. The two will play in the final game on Saturday, Dec. 27 at 8 p.m.

“It is a good draw for us, a good draw for Wicksburg and a good draw for the tournament,” Houston Academy head coach Ron Watson said.

“It looks like the marquee game on the second night. Anytime HA and Wicksburg gets together — it doesn’t matter if it is in the WAC Tournament or home or home or in the Downtown Tournament, the crowd will be into it.”

The teams, until this year, were area opponents and played twice a year. Despite Wicksburg moving up to Class 3A and HA staying 2A, the two programs, located about 15 miles apart, will still play each other on home-and-home basis.

“As both teams know, coach (Scott) Whitaker and I are good friends and have been since we were young,” Watson said. “We are both the same age and we probably know each other’s team as well as the other coach. Both schools probably do less preparing for each other because they know each other so well. We know what Wicksburg does and Wicksburg knows what we try to do.”

Other rivalries are also on tap for the opening round. The tournament opens on Friday, Dec. 26 with Wiregrass Athletic Conference teams Dale County and Headland facing off at 2 p.m., followed by WAC foes Houston County against G.W. Long at 4 p.m.

WAC teams Geneva meets Rehobeth in another rivalry game at 4 p.m. on Saturday, Dec. 27.

The tournament’s defending champion, Northview, opens against one of the more athletic teams in the field, Ashford, in the event’s opening night finale at 8 p.m.

“Ashford is very tough,” Northview head coach Floyd Griffin said. “They have a lot of good players.”

The winner could meet up in the second round with Houston County — the only state ranked team in the field and a team Griffin has already tabbed as the early favorite.

The Lions lost to Northview in last year’s Downtown Hoops Classic title game and were the first tournament champion two years ago. They return almost every player off last year’s team.

“They are good team,” Griffin said. “They are one of the teams to beat in this thing.”

Other opening games feature Providence Christian against Slocomb, Georgiana versus New Brockton and Dothan against Malone.

The Dothan-Malone game will be the first in the tournament for the Tigers under new head coach Bill Porter Jr. However, Porter is no stranger to the tourney, having coached in it the last two years with Headland.

“It is a great tournament,” Porter said. “When I came down here with Headland, I enjoyed playing here. It has a good atmosphere, good teams and good coaches.”

As been the case the last two years, proceeds of the tournament, after expenses, go back to the participating schools. A year ago, close to $30,000 was distributed to the 16 programs.

After opening-round play on Friday, Dec. 26 and Saturday, Dec. 27, the tournament skips a day and resumes on Monday, Dec. 29 with four quarterfinal games, starting at 2 p.m.

Semifinal games are scheduled for Tuesday, Dec. 30 at 6 and 8 p.m. The consolation game is set for Wednesday, Dec. 31 at 5 p.m., followed by the championship game at 7 p.m.

Opening round pairings
Friday, Dec. 26
Dale County vs. Headland, 2 p.m.
G.W. Long vs. Houston County, 4 p.m.
Providence Christian vs. Slocomb, 6 p.m.
Northview vs. Ashford, 8 p.m.
Saturday, Dec. 27
Georgiana vs. New Brockton, 2 p.m.
Geneva vs. Rehobeth, 4 p.m.
Dothan vs. Malone (Fla.), 6 p.m.
Houston Academy vs. Wicksburg, 8 p.m.