SALISBURY- The 39th Governor’s Challenge, billed as the “largest holiday basketball tournament in the country,” gets underway next week.
Now entering its 39th year, the annual Governor’s Challenge holiday basketball tournament will feature 120 of the top high school teams from all over the country in a five-day showcase event from December 26 through December 31 at the Wicomico Youth and Civic Center and other venues in and around the Salisbury area.
Boys’ and girls’ high school basketball games will be played practically around the clock at the Wicomico Youth and Civic Center, UMES and various high schools in the area featuring 120 of the best high school programs in the country. Teams from Maryland, Delaware, Washington, D.C., Florida, New Jersey, New York, Georgia, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Virginia and Canada will compete over the five-day event.
The format will include a DMVElite Showcase Division featuring 26 of the top teams from around the region and beyond, along with a girls’ showcase division. The tournament also features a varsity boys’ division and a varsity girls’ division.
Locally, most of the boys’ and girls’ team from the Bayside Conference and the Eastern Shore Independent Athletic Conference will be competing along with many schools from across neighboring Delaware. The Stephen Decatur boys will face Georgetown Day in its opener on December 26, while the Worcester Prep boys will face the Frederick Force, also on December 26. The Worcester Prep girls will face Boonsboro on December 30.