Marietta College hosts annual River City High School Classic
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Ring in the new year with some high-caliber boys and girls high school basketball action.
Today and Thursday at Marietta College's Ban Johnson Arena, the annual River City High School Classic will be showcasing some impressive local basketball talent.
Beginning at noon today, there will be six games taking place inside the home of the Pioneers -- three girls games and three boys games.
Then on Thursday, starting at 11:30 a.m., seven games will be played. One $10 ticket each day gets fans access to as many games as they want to watch.
The action kicks off today with the Belpre girls taking on Meigs at noon. In her first year at the helm, Regina Leftwich has the Golden Eagles sitting at 6-1 this season. They defeated the Marauders 69-47 earlier this season.
The Parkersburg girls are one of five teams, including Belpre and Meigs, that are slated to play on both days of the Classic. Chris Murray-coached PHS (4-2) takes on a 6-1 River team at 1:30 p.m.
One of the more intriguing games of the day will be at 3 p.m. when the Ryan McLain-coached Marietta girls put their perfect 9-0 record on the line against fellow unbeaten Fairland (8-0). The Dragons were a Final Four team last year, and are a team the Tigers may see in the district tournament.
Boys action kicks off at 4:30 p.m. when first-year head coach Larry Johnson leads St. Marys (2-3) into battle against Clarksburg Notre Dame (3-3).
Then, the Eric Henniger-coached Fort Frye Cadets (3-2) will take on the Southern Tornadoes (3-3) at 6 p.m.
The main event at 7:30 p.m. will pit a pair of area teams against each other, as veteran coach Blane Maddox and his Warren Warriors face off against first-year head man Phil Wilson and his Parkersburg Big Reds.
The Warriors are 6-1 after earning a pair of wins at their home invitational, the Clash at the Coliseum, last week, and will take a PHS squad that is much better than its 0-5 record indicates.
After a quick turnaround, the action starts promptly at 11:30 a.m. Thursday when the Meigs girls (2-5) take on Trimble (3-4).
Mike Cisler's Frontier girls are off to a strong 5-2 start this season but will face one of their biggest tests of the season at 1 p.m. when the Cougars take on Fred King's St. Marys Blue Devils. SMHS is 6-1 to start the season.
Dan Liedtke's Fort Frye girls will be up next at 2:30 when the 8-2 Cadets take on Wahama.
At 4 p.m., the PHS girls return to the BanJo to take on Liberty Union (3-6)
The first boys game of the day is set for 5:30 when Ryan Leasure's Belpre Golden Eagles (6-3) match up with a 6-1 Wahama squad.
The event closes out with back-to-back Marietta games -- at 7, the MHS girls will take on Belpre before the Austin Gardner-coached Marietta boys face off against St. Marys. The Tigers bring a 6-0 record into the Classic.
River City High School Classic
At Marietta College's Ban Johnson Arena
Wednesday, Dec. 27
Belpre vs. Meigs (GIRLS), noon
Parkersburg vs. River (GIRLS), 1:30 p.m.
Marietta vs. Fairland (GIRLS), 3 p.m.
St. Marys vs. Notre Dame (BOYS), 4:30 p.m.
Fort Frye vs. Southern (BOYS), 6 p.m.
Parkersburg vs. Warren (BOYS), 7:30 p.m.
Thursday, Dec. 28
Meigs vs. Trimble (GIRLS), 11:30 a.m.
Frontier vs. St. Marys (GIRLS), 1 p.m.
Fort Frye vs. Wahama (GIRLS), 2:30 p.m.
Parkersburg vs. Liberty Union (GIRLS), 4 p.m.
Belpre vs. Wahama (BOYS), 5:30 p.m.
Marietta vs. Belpre (GIRLS), 7 p.m.
Marietta vs. St. Marys (BOYS), 8:30 p.m.
Cost: $10 per ticket.