Tis the season for basketball tournaments

'Tis the season' isn't just for Christmas. It also means high school basketball, and lots of it over the next two weeks. While both sides of Bristol will be the focus next week as 38 teams will compete in The Classic at Tennessee High and the revamped Arby's Classic at Virginia High on the same days and in the same town, there is plenty of tournament action to wet the hoops appetite this week in the region. Among those are a pair of boys tournaments, including the fifth annual Alpha Invitational, being held at Dobyns-Bennett's Buck Van Huss Dome on Thursday through Saturday, while the Betsy Bash will be held at Elizabethton High School on Friday, Saturday and will be completed on Monday. The girls will be busy as well, with the 29th annual Doc Maples Holiday Classic being held at Tennessee High's Viking Hall, beginning on Thursday, and continuing into Saturday. ** Alpha Invitational Eight teams from six states will converge on the Buck Van Huss Dome for the Alpha Invitational, which is where it was held in 2021 before moving to the Tribe Athletic Complex the last three years while that facility underwent renovations. It's back, and Dobyns-Bennett head coach and tournament director Chris Poore is certainly happy about it. "We are so excited about the tournament coming home to the Dome," said Poore, in a press release. "The Dome allows us to be the host site that we've wanted to be. We've done a really nice job having the tournament at the TAC, but you can't replicate the experience of playing in the arena… "We should be hosting big-time events there, making the Dome the elite venue that it's supposed to be." In addition to Dobyns-Bennett and Gate City (VA) - which is in the Alpha for the third time - six teams will travel from out of the region, led by Dorman (SC), which won the event last season. Other schools include Tullahoma (TN), Gray Collegiate (SC), Auburn (AL), Bell County (KY) and Belen Jesuit (FL). Tullahoma (9-2) will face Gray Collegiate (4-2) in the opening game on Thursday at 4 p.m. Coached by Jason Welch (370-232), the balanced Wildcats were the Class AAA state runner-up last season in Tennessee. Gray Collegiate, located in West Columbia, S.C., won six Class 2A state titles in seven years between 2018 and 2024. The Don Bethea (226-60)-coached War Eagles, who will compete in Class 4A this season, will be led by Kennesaw State commit 6-5 Levi Ball. That game will be followed at 5:30 p.m. by Gate City (1-1), which narrowly missed on a Class 2 state tournament berth last season, and Auburn (10-4), which is led by junior Antwane Daniels, the son of former Auburn star and 10-year NBA veteran Marquis Daniels. Daniels has offers from Mississippi, Mississippi State and Missouri. Led by former Auburn High and Auburn University alum Chris Brandt (590-343), the Tigers are one of Alabama's premier 7A programs, last winning a state title in 2005. Balanced Dobyns-Bennett (9-3) will then face Bell County (3-0-1) from Pineville, Ky. at 7 p.m. Led by 1,000-point scorer Ethan Buell, a 6-foot-6 junior, the Brad Sizemore (293-179-1)-coached Bobcats have won at least 25 games in three of the last four seasons. Braxton Ferguson, a 5-3 freshman guard, already has an offer from Eastern Kentucky. The final opening game, slated to begin at 8:30 p.m., will feature defending champion Dorman (6-1) from Roebuck, S.C., and Belen Jesuit (8-0) from Miami. Dorman is the third defending champ to return to Kingsport, following Winter Haven (FL) in 2023 and Jonesboro (GA) in 2022. A five-time South Carolina Class 5A state champ, Dorman boasts two current NBA players in Noah Clowney (Alabama, Brooklyn Nets) and P.J. Hall (Clemson, Memphis Grizzlies), the son of former Sullivan South player Jerome Hall. The Thomas Ryan (485-172)-coached Cavaliers have three players receiving college interest, including 5-11 junior Jaden Johnson, 6-5 Aaden Bruton-Smith and 6-7 Will Bush. Belen Jesuit won its first state championship in 2023, with Gaston "Chachi" Rodriguez (492-216) becoming the first coach in Florida state history to win state titles at three different schools. The Wolverines will be led by 6-3 Orlando Roche and 6-footers Alec Arnholt and Lucas Diaz. Two loser bracket games begin on Friday at 3 p.m., which includes the losing team from Thursday's first and third games, followed by the losing teams from the second and fourth games. Up next will be a slam dunk and 3-point shooting contest at 6. The two winner's bracket games, featuring Game 1 vs. Game 3 winners and Game 2 vs. Game 4 winners, will begin at 7 p.m. Four games will be played on Saturday starting at 1 p.m., with the championship game slated for 5:30. A team breakfast will be held on Saturday morning with former University of Alabama and NFL veteran Dre Kirkpatrick serving as the guest speaker. A reunion of Dobyns-Bennett basketball alumni will be held between the third and fifth place games on Saturday at 3:45 p.m. as well. Betsy Bash The three-day Betsy Bash at Elizabethton will begin on Friday with 41-year coaching veteran John Dyer and West Ridge facing Grainger at 2:30 p.m. That will be followed by Daniel Boone and Unicoi County in the top bracket. The final two games will feature Volunteer and Woodberry Forest (VA), which is located in Madison County in Virginia, at 6:30, followed by Elizabethton and Madison (NC), which is located in Marshall, N.C. Four second round games will be played on Saturday starting at 2:30 p.m., with the seventh place through championship contests slated for Monday, also beginning at 2:30. Doc Maples Holiday Hoops Classic The Doc Maples Holiday Hoops Classic has served as an appetizer for The Classic for nearly 30 years, and this year's event is comprised of teams from Northeast Tennessee and Southwest Virginia with a combined record of 40-22 heading into Tuesday night games. According to tournament director Charles Tiller, this year's event will include all regional schools, led by defending Class 1 state champion George Wythe (VA), along with a trio of conference titliests and a pair of teams that advanced to the Sweet 16 in Tennessee last season. Abingdon senior Annsley Trivette could be considered the headliner, having committed to play for North Carolina State. Tiller said several other players are also on the radar of colleges at various level. Science Hill and Greeneville will open the action on Thursday at 4 p.m., followed by Morristown East and Abingdon. Volunteer and Tennessee High, which is led by Virginia Tech softball commit Addie Wilhoit, begin at 7 p.m., followed by Dobyns-Bennett and George Wythe. Friday's loser's bracket games begin at 3 p.m, with the winner's bracket starting at 6:30 p.m. A 3-point shooting contest will be held on Friday at 6. Seventh place through championship games will be played on Saturday starting at noon. "I think that this may be the most balanced field that we have ever had and I expect that most all of the games will be hard-fought and competitive," Tiller said. "I do not feel like there is a clear favorite this year and really I could see most any team have a chance to take home the trophy."