SCOOBA – East Mississippi Community College will serve as a tournament host for MHSAA Middle School Basketball Invitational later this month as one of eight community college campuses in the state selected by the Mississippi High School Activities Association to serve as host sites for this weekend’s opening-round play.

Tournament action is slated to begin Friday and Saturday and continue through the final two weekends of the month.

To tip off middle school basketball tournament action, EMCC will host two boys’ first-round games and a pair of girls’ opening-round contests beginning at 4 p.m. on Friday at Keyes T. Currie Coliseum on the Scooba campus. Friday’s slate will tip off with doubleheader action between Kemper County and Leake Central beginning with a 4 p.m. girls’ game followed by a 5 p.m. boys’ contest between the two schools. Waynesboro Riverview and Water Valley will then meet in girls’ action around 6 p.m. prior to Waynesboro’s Beat Four School taking on B.F. Liddell from Macon in the boys’ Friday nightcap.

Saturday’s game times at EMCC are slated for 1 p.m., 2 p.m., 3 p.m. and 4 p.m. with alternating girls’ and boys’ contests. A 1 p.m. girls’ contest between Houston and the Kemper County-Leake Central winner will be followed by the Columbus boys’ team taking on the Kemper County-Leake Central winner. Saturday’s slate will continue with a 3 p.m. girls’ matchup pitting Corinth against the Riverview-Water Valley victor followed by the boys’ nightcap between Wheeler and the Beat Four-B.F. Liddell winner.

Following this weekend’s opening-round tournament action also being played on the campuses of Itawamba, Mississippi Delta, Jones College, Holmes, East Central, Hinds and Southwest Mississippi, third- and fourth-round contests will take place Jan. 24-25 in Booneville, Ellisville, Meridian and Summit.

Middle school hoops tournament competition will then conclude on the Scooba campus, Jan. 31-Feb. 1, with Friday’s tip-offs again at 4p.m., 5 p.m., 6 p.m. and 7 p.m. Saturday’s girls’ and boys’ championship contests are slated for 1 p.m. and 2 p.m., respectively, at EMCC.

Tickets for this weekend’s opening rounds of the MHSAA Middle School Basketball Invitational in Scooba will be available for $10 per day at the Keyes T. Currie Coliseum entrance. Tickets may also be purchased in advance online at gofan.co/app/school/MISSHSAA.

Tournament brackets for the Boys Tournament can be found HERE.

Tournament brackets for the Girls Tournament can be found HERE.