Atwater hosting first-ever basketball showcase featuring 18 teams, 9 games in two days
The Atwater High boys basketball program will host the first-ever Central Valley Tip off this Friday and Saturday at the Atwater High gym.
The basketball showcase will feature 18 local teams with two games on Friday night and seven games on Saturday.
“There’s a lot of teams in our area and if you’re not in Fresno, Stockton or Sacramento, there’s not a lot of opportunities for kids to get exposure,” said Atwater coach Kanoa Smith, whose team won the Central California Conference championship this past spring.
“A lot of times players in our area get overlooked. I thought this was a great way to showcase the talent and our facilities in this area.”
The showcase gets started with Madera playing Central Valley at 6 p.m. on Friday. Hilmar will square off against Turlock Christian at 7:30 p.m.
Saturday’s schedule includes: 10:30 a.m. — Chowchilla vs. Stone Ridge Christian; noon — Denair vs. McLane; 1:30 p.m. — Whitney vs Mt. Whitney; 3 p.m. — Pitman vs Liberty; 4:30 p.m. — Los Banos vs Sonora; 6 p.m. — Calaveras vs Oakdale; 7:30 p.m. — Atwater vs Beyer.
Smith said he tried to create competitive matchups between teams that play in similar divisions.
It’s an opportunity for local high school basketball fans to watch a lot of local teams in action in one spot. It’s also an opportunity for coaches to scout multiple teams in one day.
Smith said he’d like to see even more local teams jump on board in the future. He’d also like to see maybe setting up a marquee matchup with a top team from the Central Section squaring off with a talented team from the Sacramento area. It’s a chance for the two teams to play at a neutral side in the middle.
“We want to run this tip off every Saturday during the Thanksgiving break to draw people in,” Smith said. “It’s one-day event so we’re not competing with tournaments.”
