LOWER LAKE — The 19th annual Record-Bee Hoop Classic basketball tournament will be contested Dec. 20-22 at the new Lower Lake High School gym in Lower Lake.
Featuring the varsity and junior varsity boys” basketball teams from Clear Lake, Kelseyville, Lower Lake and Middletown high schools, the tournament is a round-robin competition, meaning every team faces every other team during the course of the three-day event. All tournament proceeds benefit the host high school”s basketball and athletic programs.
Lower Lake is hosting the tournament for the fifth time since the Record-Bee Classic was first contested in 1994 at Middletown High School. This is the second time the tournament will be held in the Trojans” state-of -the-art new gym facility – the first time was in 2009.
All teams pay an entry fee that covers the cost of the tournament officials. The Record-Bee pays for all tournament awards and also produces the programs that are sold at the event, with all proceeds going to the host school.
Originally contested in a week-long format, the Hoop Classic moved to a three-day schedule last December when Upper Lake dropped out of the tournament, citing its inability to compete with the county”s other schools.
Middletown won the varsity championship and Clear Lake the JV title at last year”s tournament in Kelseyville. Both teams went on to win North Central League I crowns.
Clear Lake will host the 20th annual Hoop Classic in 2013. The host school has not been determined for the 2014 tournament.
Former Middletown High School varsity boys” coach Bill Foltmer teamed up with the Record-Bee in 1994 to launch the Hoop Classic, citing a need for a competition between the county”s schools that would also double as a major fundraiser for the host school. Middletown served as host for each of the first two tournaments, but because of the Hoop Classic”s popularity and profitability, the tournament began to move around the county beginning in 1996.
