Just as Christmas represents the “unofficial start” of each NBA season, the Savannah Holiday Classic Basketball Tournament has become a sort-of benchmark on the high school sports calendar here. It means the high school football season is over and basketball is the sport getting the time and attention of every multi-sport student athlete in the area.
The multi-venue, multi-bracket and multi-day event is hosted and organized by the Savannah-Chatham County Public School System (SCCPSS) Department of Health, Physical Education & Athletics. It might just be the thing that the school system does best here. Starting on Thursday (Dec. 15) and ending on Saturday (Dec. 17), 29 prep basketball teams (17 boys, 12 girls) will compete at five different venues across the city to determine the area’s hardwood hierarchy.
It’s the seventh year of the tournament, and it might just be the most anticipated edition to date. The sixth edition of the tournament came three years ago, in 2019, just a few months before COVID-19 arrived at our doors. So in 2020 and again in 2021, the Holiday Classic was canceled as the district continued to rebound (pun intended) from the pandemic’s impacts on travel and crowd control.
For the casual hoops fan in the area, the Holiday Classic has always been an opportunity to see unique cross-city matchups that aren’t typically going to show up on a regular season schedule. Savannah’s smallest schools versus its biggest. The city’s bluebloods versus its up-and-comers. Its supported and its neglected. All competing on the same floor. All for a “best in the city” title that is much more important than it is real. It comes with 365 days worth of bragging rights, after all.
Five boys teams from Savannah were ranked in Kyle Sandy’s Top-10 polls this week. All five are in the field at the Classic. Johnson (Class 3A No. 3), Beach (No. 4), Windsor Forest (2A No. 9) and Woodville (1A DI No. 8) in Crawford Square while newly ranked Calvary Day (3A No. 7) battles the likes of Jenkins, Benedictine, Memorial Day, Savannah High and others in Washington Square.
And since we’re talking Savannah high school hoops, we might as well talk coaches. This city has had a knack for churning out boy’s basketball coaches with big personalities who produce big results. That’s what we’ve got nowadays, at least.
Lenny Williams (Woodville), Chuck Campbell (Johnson), Simon Heyward (Beach), Kevin Evans (Groves) and Aaron Clark (Windsor Forest) have been known to show plenty of personality while coaching in a gym or while speaking into a media day mic. All of them are coaching in the same bracket this weekend, all vying for a title over a brief 72-hour period.
Even the brackets themselves are named in a uniquely Savannah manner. Each of the four are named for the city’s downtown squares. Crawford Square and Washington Square are the boys’ brackets. Columbia Square and Chippewa Squares will house the girls’ brackets.
Only two out-of-state teams are in the field, which only serves to strengthen the idea that this is a makeshift Savannah City Championship. Hilton Head Prep (SC) and SLAM (Fla.) are in the Crawford Square bracket. The latter is a tuition-free public charter school in Tampa, and the Spartans play Thursday at Johnson versus the Atom Smashers with tip-off set for 8:30. For those of you wondering, it stands for “Sports Leadership, Arts & Management.”
Hosting schools are: Jenkins (Thursday-Saturday), Johnson (Thursday/Friday), Woodville-Tompkins (Thursday/Friday), Beach (Thursday/Friday) and New Hampstead (Saturday only).
For more information on the Savannah Holiday Classic Basketball Tournament, including brackets, schedules and more, visit PrepSportsReport.com and follow the action all weekend long by following me on Twitter @JaudonSports.
SPORTS NOTES
The Benedictine Cadets did indeed finish the job on the football field in Atlanta last Friday. BC (13-2) beat previously unbeaten Cedartown in a 14-13 thriller to win its second straight GHSA Class 4A state championship and its fourth in the last nine seasons under head head coach Danny Britt. Benedictine finished the season on an 11-game winning streak and Britt should have enough talent in his 13th year at the helm to warrant three-peat chatter next fall.
Savannah native Mills Lane died last Tuesday (Dec. 6) in Reno, Nevada after entering hospice a week earlier due to his declining health. One of Savannah’s most recognizable names, Lane joined the U.S. Marine Corps in 1956 and was a boxer while serving. He went to the University of Nevada, where he won the 1960 NCAA welterweight title, turned pro afterwards, and compiled a 10-1 record before hanging up the gloves. As a boxing referee in his post-fighting days, Lane truly became famous. He was the referee who disqualified Mike Tyson in the infamous 1997 heavyweight “Bite Fight” against Evander Holyfield at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas. Over his 34-years as a professional referee, Lane was in the ring for more than 100 world championships. Before each of those fights came his signature command: “Let’s get it on!” Lane was 85.
Test your college football knowledge by joining the Hot Grits Podcast 2022 Bowl Mania group this week. Pick a winner for every bowl through ESPN’s Bowl Mania site and submit your entry by searching HOT GRITS PODCAST 2022 and use the password HGP when prompted. Enter before the first bowl game on December 16. Find more information on the Hot Grits Podcast Facebook page, or on Twitter (@PodcastGrits) and Instagram (@thehotgrits).
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This article appears in Dec 14-20, 2022.
