Holiday high school sports watching guide

Looking for some high school sporting events to attend over the Christmas break after the sub-zero temperatures have retreated back to Canada?

Here's a rundown of what's going in this week in basketball, swimming and wrestling for our area squads:

Girls' basketball

TOBY YOHO CLASSIC: Make the short drive to Eastern Greene for some of the best small school girls' basketball teams in southern Indiana for a 12-team, two-day affair on Dec. 29-30 at both the high school and elementary school gyms.

The first day is pool play, two games for each team, then two more in the finals on Friday. There are nine teams here giving up 45 ppg or less.

The field includes: Pool A: Eastern Greene (9-3), Jasper (3-9), Southwestern (Hanover) (5-8); Pool B: Bloomfield (4-9), South Knox (8-4), Brownstown Central (8-4); Pool C: Loogootee (2-9), Trinity Lutheran (11-1), Martinsville (0-2); Pool D: North Knox (14-0), Owen Valley (5-8), Paoli (7-5).

The host T-Birds will play Thursday at 9:30 a.m. vs. Jasper and at 4:30 p.m. vs. Southwestern (Hanover), both in the high school gym. Friday's semifinals are at 11:15 a.m. and 1 p.m. and the championship is at 7.

North Knox is ranked No. 1 in 2A and comes in off a huge 37-26 win over No. 7 Linton that stamps the Warriors as the sectional favorite. Brownstown is ranked 10th. Trinity Lutheran is No. 4 in 1A.

TRITON CENTRAL TOURNAMENT: Bloomington North heads here for the first time with play running Dec. 27-28.

North (8-4) opens in the final first round game at 1:30 p.m. on Tuesday against 3A Lawrenceburg (7-4). Then it's either Heritage Christian (8-3) or a rematch with Southport (6-5) at either 6 or 7:30. The finals are Wednesday. The rest of the field includes Salem (1-12), Triton Central (8-3), Northeastern (9-4) and Jac-Cen-Del (6-6). Complete schedule: johnharrell.net

GIBSON COUNTY TOURNAMENT: This tournament was supposed to take place before Christmas but the arctic deep freeze pushed it back to Dec. 28 and winding up on Jan. 2.

Edgewood (3-8) will play three games at three different locations, starting with Barr-Reeve (7-5) on Wednesday at 3:30 p.m. at Gibson Southern. On Jan. 2, the Mustangs are at Princeton (5-5) at 11 a.m. then at Wood Memorial (9-4) at 7:30 p.m.

Boys' basketball

RICHMOND (BOB WETTIG) TOURNAMENT: Bloomington South looked for something closer to home but ended back at a revamped tourney in Richmond on Dec. 27-28. The 12-team field is now divided into pool play, with games split between Richmond High School and IU-East on both days.

South (5-3) will play both of its pool games at IU-East on Tuesday, starting at 11 a.m. with 2A No. 6 Eastern Hancock (6-1), a squad that made semistate last year, falling to eventual champ Providence. The Royals only loss this year is to undefeated New Palestine (62-53). Next in the final game of the day at 7 p.m. is North Decatur (4-1). The Chargers' only loss is to Triton Central.

Rest of the field includes, Pool A: Greensburg (3-2), Seton Catholic (5-4), Monroe Central (2-5); Pool B: Rushville (1-5), Richmond (4-3), Heritage (4-1) and Pool C: Indianapolis HomeSchool Trailblazers (1-4), Lawrenceburg (3-2), Tindley (4-4).

Should South win its pool, the semifinal would be at 1 p.m. on Wednesday at Richmond. The championship game is at 8 also at Richmond. Complete schedule: johnharrell.net

WABASH VALLEY CLASSIC: Edgewood returns to Terre Haute with North hosting this year's 16-team tourney Dec. 26-29. Action over the first three days opens at 10 a.m. Monday's opener for the Mustangs (1-7) is against Terre Haute South (5-3) at 4 p.m. Edgewood has lost five straight and comes in off a frustrating 25-point outing at Sullivan.

The rest of the lower part of the bracket includes Robinson, Ill. (4-5) vs. Terre Haute North (4-3); Shakamak (4-3) vs. Cloverdale (1-6) and 1A No. 1 Bloomfield (7-1) vs. South Vermillion (4-3). The upper bracket openers have 2A No. 2 Linton (6-1) vs. Parke Heritage (4-4), Marshall, Ill. (0-9) vs. West Vigo (3-5); Greencastle (1-6) vs. Northview (2-3) and Casey-Westfield, Ill. (8-2) vs. Sullivan (6-1). Complete schedule at johnharrell.net

SOUTHRIDGE TOURNAMENT: Eastern Greene (4-3) will be making its first appearance here Dec. 28-29 after COVID took the T-Birds out of last year's field. The six-team round robin features two pool play games for each team on Day 1 and crossover finals (fifth, third and first games) on Thursday.

Eastern starts with South Central (Elizabeth) (3-3) at 3:15 p.m. followed by the host Raiders (2-4) at 6:45. The teams in the other pool are North Knox (1-7), Danville (5-3) and 1A No. 2 Orleans (5-1), whose only loss is to New Albany.

GAINBRIDGE FIELDHOUSE: The Bloomington North girls and boys will be action back-to-back in Indianapolis on Friday, Dec. 30. The Cougar girls will play Northview at 2:45 p.m. followed by the boys taking on Zionsville at 4:30.

Wrestling

AL SMITH CLASSIC: Bloomington South will once again head to one of the state's best tournaments at Mishawaka on Dec. 29-30. Brackets were not posted as of deadline.

MOORESVILLE HOLIDAY CLASSIC: Bloomington North, Edgewood and Owen Valley will head to the two-day tournament (Dec. 28-29). Among the area wrestlers garnering top-eight seeds are Edgewood's John Orman (12-3), third at 113 pounds; Landon Clement (11-4), seventh at 132 and Cash Turner (15-0), No. 1 at 145; North's Jeremiah Casillas (14-5), sixth at 152 and Cael Hickok (15-5), eighth at 160 and Owen Valley's Branson Weaver (16-0), No. 2 at 138; Eli Hinshaw (16-0), No. 1 at 220 and Bryce Mills (11-3), fifth at 285.

Swimming

CENTER GROVE HOLIDAY CLASSIC: Bloomington North South's programs will head north on Dec. 28. Joining them are the host Trojans, Cincinnati Aiken and Columbus North. Diving starts at 8 a.m., swimming at 10 a.m.

This article originally appeared on The Herald-Times: Holiday high school sports watching guide