A group of boys and girls high school basketball teams have the opportunity to do something no other high school team has done yet in Eastern Idaho: play in the Mountain America Center.
The TitleOne Tip-Off Classic will happen in Idaho Falls from Dec. 11-13. It will feature 16 high school basketball teams from across the Gem State, eight boys and girls teams.
Ryan Taylor is the senior vice president of TitleOne, a title and escrow company based in Idaho which assists in real estate transactions. He told BYU-Idaho Radio how unique this opportunity is, especially for the players.
“Not a lot of high school kids get the opportunity to play in an arena like the Mountain America Center,” Taylor said. “It would give some of these teams that have aspirations to play in the state tournament and in the Ford Center a little bit of a sneak peak of what that looks like.”
As for the ultimate goal of the tournament, it goes beyond basketball.
“It isn’t to make money as a company, but to make an impact to our local communities across the state,” Taylor said. “These 16 teams have chosen 16 nonprofits to raise money through tickets sales and sponsorships. We will be able to divvy up the proceeds of the tournament to all 16 of those nonprofits.”
Each high school team has chosen a local nonprofit organization which will receive money from ticket sales and sponsorships.
Each team will play three games, and there will be eight games per day for a grand total of 24 games across the tournament.
There are several reasons Taylor says people should attend the tournament.
“It gives our community an opportunity to come out to catch some basketball and teams from across the entire state,” Taylor said. “Come support some of the local teams and the vision of the tournament. Also, understand that 100% of the proceeds of every ticket sold are going directly to these nonprofits that will make a huge impact across our state.”
The tournament starts Thursday, Dec. 11 and will run through Saturday, Dec. 13. For more information on tickets and game schedules, visit Mountain America Center’s website.