SALISBURY- Stephen Decatur’s boys’ varsity basketball team, along with several other teams from the Bayside Conference, will compete next week in the 4th Annual Governor’s Challenge Holiday Basketball Tournament featuring some of the top teams from Maryland against some of Delaware’s best.
For years, the Wicomico Youth and Civic Center has hosted a holiday basketball tournament featuring some of the best prep teams from around the region between Christmas and New Year’s, but the stakes have been raised in recent years. Three years ago, for the first time, the tournament was renamed the Governor’s Challenge after Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley issued a challenge to Delaware Gov. Jack Markel with a Maryland Smith Island cake on the line against a Delaware peach pie for the winner in the head-to-head competition between schools from both states.
Next week, the third annual Governor’s Challenge will be held again featuring some of the top teams from Maryland including a strong representation from the Eastern Shore against a tough field of teams from Delaware. Decatur will be among the teams competing from the Bayside South Conference, along with Crisfield, Bennett, Mardela, Parkside, Pocomoke, Snow Hill, Washington and Wicomico.
Delaware teams in the field include Cape Henlopen, Delmar, Christiana, Dickinson, Indian River, Laurel, Milford, Seaford, Sussex Central and Woodbridge. Decatur will face Baltimore powerhouse Dunbar in its first game next Friday at the Wicomico Youth and Civic Center at 5 p.m., and will face Delaware’s Dickinson in its second game of the tournament at 2:30 p.m. on Saturday.
In addition to the games on the court, there will also be a Slam Dunk contest featuring six of the top dunkers in the tournament, as well as a Three-Point contest featuring some of the top shooters in the field. The festivities will also include fan contests and other giveaways.
Priceless Each Friday, 52 Weeks a Year!