Got weekend plans? Cancel them. The Spartan Classic returns in an action-packed weekend of boys and girls basketball. The four-day tournament begins this Saturday and continues through Tuesday.
The Spartan Classic was originally a girls tournament beginning in 2006 with Andover (Division I) and St. Mary’s (Division II) crowned champions. The St. Mary’s girls have dominated the tournament in recent years, winning it 12 times on top of being the reigning champions.
The tournament expanded to include boys teams in 2018.
St. Mary’s athletic director and girls basketball head coach Jeff Newhall said he’s excited to watch some great basketball.
“We have some of the best teams in the entire state coming to Lynn this weekend,” Newhall said. “Some teams are from Lynn anyway, but you also have teams traveling as far as Springfield coming to play in this tournament. I think that speaks volumes of what the outside perception is of this tournament.”
Newhall believes teams enjoy competing in the tournament not only because of the competition, but also due to the preparation it gives teams heading into the state tournament.
“It prepares you for the state tournament and we try to treat it like a state tournament game. We’ll have three officials for every game. Win or lose in round one, the second game you’ll play is a really good team. Sometimes you get into the tournament and the consolation game is a snooze-fest, well, that’s not the case for this tournament.”
Newhall’s team is looking to repeat as champions. However, this year, things have been broken up into a different format.
“This year, we didn’t bracket the teams until late January and we did it based on the strength of each team,” Newhall said.
“At the beginning of the year, we talked about winning everything we can,” Newhall said about his team. “So far, we had good success. We won a tip-off classic, we won Christmas tournaments, and we won our league, so this is a new tournament for us.”
This weekend’s schedule is as follows. Unless otherwise noted, all games will be hosted at St. Mary’s High School.
SATURDAY
Girls
Bedford vs. Malden Catholic (10:30)
Dartmouth vs. Oliver Ames (12)
Boys
Lynn English vs. Malden Catholic (1:15) (Lynn Tech)
Springfield Central vs. St. Mary’s (2:45) (Lynn Tech)
Lincoln-Sudbury vs. Lynn Classical (4:15)
Lowell Catholic vs. Swampscott (5:45)
SUNDAY
Girls
Fontbonne vs. Newton South (11)
Billerica vs. Pentucket (12:30)
Acton-Boxboro vs. Lynn English (2:15)
Dracut vs. Newburyport (4)
Lincoln-Sudbury vs. St. Mary’s (5:45)
