JOPLIN, Missouri – The seedings are set and the bracket finalized for the 13th annual Joplin Kaminsky Classic basketball tournament sponsored by Freeman Sports Medicine and the Joplin Sports Authority scheduled for Jan. 5-7, 2012 at Missouri Southern’s Robert Ellis Young Gymnasium.
The tournament field will feature eight teams from three states, including ranked teams from Okla. and Mo., and a bevy of talented athletes highlighted by NCAA Division I and Division II recruits.
The tournament is scheduled to start Thursday at 4 p.m. with six-time Kaminsky champion Webster Groves vs. Francis Howell. The 5:30 contest will feature defending champion Jefferson City vs. Joplin, the 2011 tournament runner-up. The 7 p.m. game will pit top-seeded and tournament newcomer Wichita Word of Life against St. Louis Sumner. The 8:30 tilt matches Tulsa Memorial vs. William Chrisman.
Friday’s schedule includes consolation semifinals at 4 and 5:30 p.m. and winners’ bracket semifinals at 7 and 8:30 p.m.
Saturday’s finals start at 11 a.m. with the seventh place game, the fifth place game at 12:30 p.m., the third place game at 2 and the championship scheduled to start at 3:30 p.m.
The all-tournament team will be announced following the conclusion of the tournament prior to the championship trophy presentation.
Webster Groves enters the tournament as the No. 2 ranked team in Missouri Class 5 by the Missouri Basketball Coaches Association while Tulsa Memorial enters as the No. 10 team in Oklahoma Class 5A by the Oklahoma Basketball Coaches Association.
For more information, please contact Jeff Starkweather, Joplin High School athletic director at (417) 625-5242 or Jordan Larimore, Joplin Sports Authority Sports Information Director, at (417) 625-1006.