Cottondale is hosting their Christmas Classic boys basketball tournament for the second year in a row.
There’s five Panhandle teams participating in this year’s tournament: Rutherford, Arnold, Malone, Graceville and Cottondale.
Cottondale head boys basketball coach Chris Obert said he didn’t know if they would be able to host it at all this year due to the pandemic, but were glad they were able to.
However, the tournament schedule did change a bit before Friday.
“We were supposed to have three games both days, six games total, but Houston County had a deal with COVID they had to drop out unfortunately so now it’s two games a day, but it’s still basketball for the holidays and its hometown so we’re happy to have it,” Obert said.
Obert is also glad two Bay County programs were able to compete this year as he has a lot of respect for both teams.
“It’s always good to have people I guess they’re not necessarily local but they’re not far away. It’s a chance to see different people and teams that are well coached and kids that play hard and just gives people around here at Jackson County something to do and a chance to see different teams instead of seeing people that are right here in close proximity they can stretch it out see somebody a little bit further,” Obert said.
Malone and Rutherford kick things off at 6 p.m. on Friday night, then Cottondale and Arnold play right after them at 7:30 p.m.
On Saturday, Malone takes on Arnold at 6 p.m. and then Graceville and Rutherford play on Saturday night at 7:30 p.m.
-WMBB-TV