The 2009 high school varsity winter sports season is right around the corner.  Once area schools resume class after the Thanksgiving break, several basketball programs are slated to open the season with scheduled tournaments, including the 63rd Annual Carthage Invitational.

This year’s basketball tournament, of course, will be played at the new Carthage High School gymnasium, which opened in the fall for the volleyball season.

“We really think it’s going to be a first-class basketball facility,” said Steve Ray, Carthage High School’s head basketball coach. “I think, once we get people in here, it’s going to be a lot of fun to watch a basketball game here.”

Fittingly, the Carthage Tigers, who drew the No. 4 seed, are scheduled to play the first basketball game on the new floor on Monday, Nov. 30, against former Southwest Conference rival Nevada.
This year’s tournament is scheduled to run through Saturday, Dec. 5, with the championship game set for 4:30 p.m.

The Jasper Eagles, coming off a 14-12 season under first-year head coach Chad Harris, drew the No. 4 seed in this year’s Dennis Cornish Classic, which is scheduled to begin Monday, Nov. 30, at Liberal High School.

Jasper is scheduled to open the 2009-2010 campaign against the Liberal Bulldogs, who lost to the Eagles twice last year.

The Carthage High School wrestling team, coming off another solid season under head coach Kenny Brown, opens its season at 5 p.m. on Tuesday, Dec. 1, with a triangular against Columbus, Kan., and Miami, Okla., at the Carthage High School auxiliary gym.

Meanwhile, the Carthage High School swim team, headed by sixth-year coach Brittiany Nixon, opens its season on Tuesday, Dec. 8, at the Springfield Relays.