The St. Thomas/St. John Interscholastic Athletic Association will be hosting its annual Martin Luther King Jr. Varsity Basketball Tournament on Jan. 12 – 15 in the Digna Wheatley Gymnasium on the campus of the Ivanna Eudora Kean High School. McDonalds will be the title sponsor once again for this event.
There are seven teams entered in the female division and they are broken into two divisions. Pool 1 features St. Croix Central High School Lady Caribs. They won the Educational Complex Preseason Basketball Tournament in December and are the favorite to win this bracket. Ivanna Eudora Kean, Antilles School and the Virgin Islands Montessori School and Peter Gruber International Academy (VIMSPGIA) are the other three teams in this pool. All three schools are based in St. Thomas.
Coral Academy of Science is a female team out of Las Vegas, Nevada and they are the main attraction in Pool 2. Charlotte Amalie High School, a prerenal powerhouse in girls’ high school basketball, is also expected to do well in this bracket. St. Croix Educational Complex is the final team in the female tournament.
The top two teams from each pool will move on to the semifinals. The winners will meet on Jan. 15 at 9:00 a.m. for the Girl’s Tournament Championship Game.
Ivanna Eudora Kean High School boys have been the dominant force in high school basketball for the past few years. This year’s roster is cluttered with seasoned veterans, making the Dynamic Rays the team to beat in the male tournament. The boys will be playing a double elimination style format. Charlotte Amalie High School, Antilles School, and the VIMSPGIA are the three other teams from St. Thomas in the male division. Good Hope Country Day, Educational Complex and Central High School are representing the island of St. Croix. Gifft Hill School is from St. John. Bregado Flax High School, based in Virgin Gorda, is the final team in the male division.
All the action can be followed on the tournament website.
Antilles School Lady Hurricanes will face St. Croix Central High School at 4:00 p.m. on Friday to open the tournament. VIMSPGIA and Ivanna Eudora Kean High School will tip off at 9:00 a.m. on Saturday morning. Sunday will get started at 9:00 a.m. with the Lady Hurricanes taking on the Lady Volts. Monday is Championship Day. The female game will commence at 9:00 a,m, with the male final game starting seven minutes after the conclusion of the first game.
Admission to witness the games in person is $8.00 for adults and $4.00 for students with ID. A weekend pass is just $22.00.
