Beach Ball Classic to feature 6 national top 25 teams, limited attendance due to COVID-19
The 40th Beach Ball Classic is scheduled to be held next month on its traditional dates of Dec. 26-31, and area residents will have a chance to catch the action at the Myrtle Beach Convention Center.
The high school holiday basketball tournament will feature defending champion Dorman and six teams ranked in the preseason national top 25 by the MaxPreps website.
For the first time the tournament will involve as many as four teams from Horry County in the championship bracket, and it is adding a second eight-team competition for prep schools to increase the talent level in the event.
The tournament has received approval from the S.C. Department of Commerce to have spectators, which is required for an event to have more than 250 participants and attendees according to S.C. Gov. Henry McMaster’s executive order to protect against the spread of the coronavirus.
The estimated attendance on the submission to the state lists between 1,000 and 5,000 attendees, though Beach Ball Classic executive director John Rhodes said attendance will be capped at about 3,200.
He said the convention center has seated up to 7,000 for the Beach Ball in the past but is usually set up for about 5,000 spectators.
“What we’ve done is we’ve taken all precautionary measures to make sure to the best of our ability our players and our fans will be protected,” said Rhodes, the former mayor of Myrtle Beach. “Sanitation is high and we have the spacing with the seating arrangement. . . . We’re going further than anyone is required. I want to make sure we do things the right way.”
The state approval also includes the United Bank Holiday Invitational high school girls hoops tournament, which precedes the Beach Ball from Dec. 19-22 and this year will feature 40 teams. Rhodes planned to increase the event to 80 teams prior to the pandemic.
Rhodes has had to scramble to replace seven teams from six states that were scheduled to participate in the Beach Ball but have either had their seasons delayed until after the new year or have travel restrictions because of COVID-19, including Bishop O’Connell of Virginia.
The tournament will feature local high schools Myrtle Beach and Socastee, which are regular participants, as well as first-time participant Carolina Forest and North Myrtle Beach, which were both added after the cancellations.
“It’s a chance for some local teams to experience the Beach Ball,” Rhodes said.
The five championship bracket participants ranked in the MaxPreps preseason rankings released in April are No. 8 Archbishop Moeller of Ohio, No. 10 Milton of Georgia, No. 16 Archbishop Wood of Pennsylvania, No. 20 Cannon School of North Carolina, and No. 22 Marshall of Virginia.
Additionally, No. 14 Combine Academy of Lincolnton, N.C., is in the new prep school competition.
“It’s our 40th anniversary so I’m excited about that, and we’re going to have a good tournament,” Rhodes said. “We’ve got six of the top 25 teams in the country so we’re going to have a good show there.”
There are seven South Carolina teams in the championship bracket. In addition to Dorman, which has won the past four S.C. Class 5A state championships, Blythewood and Cardinal Newman School of Columbia, the top-ranked team in the S.C. Independent Schools Association (SCISA), have been added.
Other teams in the 16-team championship bracket participating for the first time are Calvary Christian (Florida) and N.C. schools Greensboro Day, Cape Fear and Lake Norman Christian.
Rhodes said he added the prep bracket, which is called the Winter Jam Bracket and consists of independent programs that attract players from outside their region and aren’t members of a high school league, in order to replace some of the teams and talent that canceled.
“That’s the one reason I went to the eight-team division to make sure I had a boost to keep the quality if I had to go with teams that didn’t have the national recognition,” Rhodes said. “So when I went with eight teams I brought in the teams that do have national recognition.”
Teams joining Combine in the Winter Jam Bracket are Blue Ridge (Virginia), iSchool (Texas), Real Salt Lake Academy (Utah), West Oaks (Florida), Oak Ridge (Florida), Winston-Salem Christian (N.C.) and St. Frances Academy (Maryland).
According to MaxPreps, among the ranked teams scheduled to play:
▪ No. 8 Moeller has won 75 of its last 76 games and returns three players who earned All-Greater Catholic League South honors in Logan Duncomb, Alex Williams and Will McCracken.
▪ No. 10 Milton appears to be Georgia’s top team, returning four starters from a state semifinal team in Bruce Thornton, Kanaan Carlyle, Devin Farrell and Lebbeus Overton.
▪ No. 14 Combine may be the top team in the Tar Heel State, as it returns the majority of key players from a team that knocked off perennial powerhouse Oak Hill Academy last season including Jalen Hood-Schifino, Jacori Owens, Kris Robinson and Mekhi Grant.
▪ No. 16 Archbishop Wood returns Philadelphia Catholic League MVP Rahsool Diggins and all-league performers Jaylen Stinson, Daeshon Shepherd Marcus Randolph.
▪ No. 20 Cannon is coming off its first state title since 2007 and features MaxPreps North Carolina Player of the Year Jaden Bradley and all-state selection D.J. Nix.
▪ No. 22 Marshall’s two losses last season were to out-of-state powers Sierra Canyon (66-55) and McEachern (70-69) and it returns its top three scorers in Jason Nelson, Roosevelt Wheeler and Dennis Parker.
Additionally, Lake Norman Christian features 6-foot-1 point guard Mikey Williams, a transfer from California who is considered by some the top sophomore in the country.
Rhodes is prepared for other teams to cancel based on what’s happening with COVID-19 in their state. “We’ll just have to cross that bridge as we get there,” he said. “Some teams may have to get a first-round bye.”
Rhodes said the Beach Ball is the only true national tournament that is being played before New Year’s Day, as big events including the City of Palms tournament in Florida have been canceled.
Nineteen Beach Ball games will be broadcast on Stadium television network, Rhodes said, as will the semifinal and final games of the girls’ United Bank Holiday Invitational.
Tickets are for sale at BeachBallClassic.com or by emailing Rhodes at johnrhodes@beachballclassic.com.
