DANVILLE — The 2009-10 area high school girls basketball season gets under way Friday when the Danville Blue Devils host Mansfield Christian in the first annual Danville Tip-Off Classic sponsored by The Hangout.
Danville athletic director and girls basketball coach Christian Toombs hasn’t seen much of Mansfield Christian, but he says his girls are ready.
“Obviously, we don’t know much about them as they don’t know much about us,” said Toombs. “It’s going to be a good battle. I think they have some pretty good guards. They may give us some fits. We just have to control the tempo and I think we’ll be OK. We’re still trying to find that team chemistry. We have girls that are capable of scoring, but they have to play more together as a team.”
Rich Loney, owner of The Hangout restaurant, is providing the main sponsorship for the Tip-Off Classic. With his support, Toombs can spend his time promoting his school and his team.
“There’s so many Christmas tournaments and holiday tournaments and so many schools get charged $150 to $200 to be in them,” said Toombs. “We want to get to the point where we are promoting girls basketball more than we have been around here, and do it in a way that is economically friendly to everyone. We’re not charging anyone anything. Rich Loney is feeding all the kids, buying T-shirts for every team member and giving them each a little back pack. He’s taking care of us and he’s doing a great job of it. He wants everyone to have a great time and get them as much stuff as possible without charging them for it and that’s just awesome.”
The Blue Devils game is scheduled for 8 p.m. and is only part of a doubleheader. Before they take the court, there will be a 6:30 p.m. game as Columbus West will face off against Columbus Horizon Science Academy.
“We just want to create a little excitement,” said Toombs. “We’ve got teams that are already confirming to come and play (at the Tip-Off Classic) next year.”
Danville will not be the only place to see girls basketball Friday. Fredericktown will open up at home against Mount Gilead at 6 p.m.
The Danville girls will host Columbus Horizon Science on Saturday night at 7:30 p.m. Utica kicks off its season with an afternoon date against visiting Heath. The tip-off is scheduled for 1 p.m.. That evening, Highland visits Centerburg and East Knox hosts Cardington. The freshmen game time is scheduled for 6 p.m.
