MYRTLE BEACH — Whitney Young High of Chicago and Bishop Gorman of Las Vegas, which both fell in the semifinals of the 2011 Beach Ball Classic, will get another chance at a title in 2012.

They are among the 16 teams competing Dec. 26-31 at the Myrtle Beach Convention Center, as the dates and participating teams for the 2012 Beach Ball Classic, CresCom Bank Holiday Invitational and Carolinas Challenge were announced late Thursday.

Beach Ball Classic executive director and Myrtle Beach mayor John Rhodes believes he’ll have another competitive Beach Ball tournament.

“These are some of the best players in the nation,” Rhodes said in a release. “There is no doubt that you will one day see many of these names among the greats of professional basketball.”

Past tournaments have featured now famous players including Kobe Bryant, Jason Kidd, Ramon Sessions, Raymond Felton, Mike Bibby, Rasheed Wallace, Kevin Garnett, Vince Carter, Michael Irwin and Ivory Latta in the Crescent Bank event, just to name a few.

Since 1981, over 1 million spectators have witnessed the holiday tradition that is the Beach Ball Classic.

Aside from being possibly the most successful high school sporting event on the Grand Strand, the Beach Ball Classic also contributes to academics.

Since 1984, the Beach Ball Classic Scholarship Fund has awarded more than $500,000 in college scholarships to more than 300 Horry County high school students.

“Without the support of the community this would not have been possible,” said Rhodes. “This is something we can definitely all be proud of.”

For more information on this year’s tournaments, visit www.beachballclassic.com.