Basketball tips off in new ways

For students, next Monday means no school. The six week grind has finished, and it’s time to relax. Yet some students will still show up to school, not in the classroom, but on the basketball court. November 22  kicks off the Tipoff Classic.

The Tipoff Classic is the first-ever basketball tournament hosted at Decatur.

The games will be played over a two day period. Monday’s games will start at 4 pm with the girl teams from Monticello and Central Gwinnett. The lady bulldogs take the court at 7 pm against Lakeside with the boys taking on Monticello at 8:30.

Tuesday’s games will feature the girls and boys losing bracket at 4 and 5:30. The last two games of the night will be the championship game for the girls and boys team at 7 and 8:30 respectively.

Decatur’s team will face a new challenge – coming up short on height. No player stands above 6 foot three. The formula for an undersized team to overcome the height disadvantage starts with paying attention to the little things and “playing well, playing tough, and playing hard,” according to Coach Charlie Copp.

Whatever happens will happen. For the team and a new coach, only good can come from the Tipoff Classic.