EDWARDSVILLE – Edwardsville High is set to host the inaugural Scott Credit Union Shootout, a six-game basketball carnival featuring some of the top players and teams in the area, on Saturday starting at 12 noon at Lucco-Jackson Gym.
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The Tigers girls’ team will lead off against Highland in the opening game, and the boys’ team makes their season home debut in the final game against Belleville Althoff Catholic. Some top-notch match-ups are featured in between.
“We think that we have a great lineup,” said Edwardsville High Athletic Director Alex Fox, who also had some family connections in helping to set up the event.
“My father-in-law, Rick Ross, came up with the idea,” Fox said.
Ross, the former longtime coach at Centralia High School and Athletic Director at Carbondale High, floated the idea to some of the local teams, and then helped set up the format and match-ups.
“This is something that we decided to start, see how it works,” Fox said, “and we hope to make it an event for teams not just around the area, but around the region as well.”
The event starts at noontime with the Tigers and Bulldogs’ girls teams meeting up in the opening game, the only girls game on the docket. At 1:30 p.m., the Highland boys go against Carbondale, followed by DeSmet Jesuit of Creve Coeur, Mo., meeting up with Mt. Vernon at 3 p.m.
At 4:30 p.m., it’ll be Metro-East Lutheran taking on Nashville, followed at 6 p.m. with Collinsville playing against St. Mary’s of South St. Louis. The climax of the event will be the Tigers’ boys against Althoff, which will mark the home debut of new Edwardsville coach Dustin Battas.
Fox is very confident that the Shootout will become an annual event and an early highlight of the season.
“We’ll get it started, then get our sponsorships in order, and down the road, we hope to make it an annual event,” Fox said, “where teams want to come in and play.”
Tickets for the Shootout are $7 for adults and $5 for students, and are good all day. In addition, a portion of the proceeds will be donated to Coaches vs. Cancer, a coalition of high school and college basketball coaches that helps raise money for the American Cancer Society in its ongoing research.
“We’re definitely excited, and we’re hoping for some great basketball on Saturday,” Fox said.
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