HIES to Host Premiere National Girls Basketball Tournament

Over Christmas break, Holy Innocents' will become Girls' Basketball Central, as the 2nd Annual Peach State Basketball Holiday Invitational takes over the HIES gymnasiums from Dec. 27-29.

The Holiday Invitational is one of the premiere high school girls basketball tournaments in all of America: 32 teams divided into four, eight-team brackets, with several nationally ranked squads from across the country - the "red" division alone will showcase seven teams currently ranked in ESPN's top 50.   

There will also be numerous college scouts in attendance. Last year's tournament drew scouts from such traditional powerhouse programs as Connecticut, Duke, Florida, Florida State, Georgia, Georgia Tech, Kentucky Maryland, North Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia, and Wake Forest, among many others.  

The tournament is sponsored by jumpoffplus.com – one of the nation's top scouting services. Brandon Clay, President and CEO of Peach State Basketball, is responsible for putting the event together, said HIES girls varsity basketball coach Tony Watkins.

"About a year ago, Brandon reached out...to see if we would be interested in hosting the tournament,” said Watkins. “His events are first class and they always feature a ‘who’s who’ of college coaching. This will be great for girls basketball. We are very fortunate to have this opportunity to host it here on campus.”