The City of Artesia will once again be filled with visiting basketball teams and fans for the 24th Annual City of Champions Classic basketball tournament December 1st through the 3rd.  Eight boys and eight girls teams will be competing.

 

Artesia Public Schools (APS) Athletic Director Cooper Henderson said they anticipate roughly 320 students, managers, coaches, and bus drivers to be in attendance, in addition to family and fans. “This tournament brings a lot of people to Artesia and drives tourist revenue,” said Henderson. “We have teams coming from far away that stay in the hotels and their families and fans stay in hotels, too. They are eating multiple meals in town and hitting our retail spots.”

 

The tournament is early in the basketball season, but it doesn’t diminish the caliber of play. “It’s always been a real exciting tournament,” said Henderson. “Even though it’s early in the season the teams are playing really good basketball and it’s exciting to watch.”

 

The tournament brings teams to town the Bulldogs don’t normally play. “It’s been positive to bring in teams for matchups that we otherwise don’t get to see,” said Henderson. The girls teams playing this year include Carlsbad, El Paso Bel Air, Alamogordo, El Paso Riverside, Deming, Ruidoso, and Artesia. The boys teams competing this year are Carlsbad, Los Lunas, Hobbs, Rio Rancho, Deming, Alamogordo, Fort Sumner, and Artesia.

 

Every year APS dismisses high school students to attend either the first boys or girls game, in alternating years, on Thursday of the tournament. This year the students will attend the 10:00 a.m. girls game against Ruidoso on December 1st. 

 

The first Artesia boys game of the tournament will be held at 6:00 p.m. on Thursday, December 1st against Fort Sumner. 

 

The tournament will be held at the Artesia High School Bulldog Pit at 300 15th St. in Artesia. Come out and support your local teams and enjoy some exciting basketball!