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DOWAGIAC — The second annual Southwestern Michigan College Tri-State Holiday Classic has expanded to feature both girls and boys high school basketball teams from Michigan, Indiana and Illinois.

Play begins in the 1st Source Bank Fieldhouse at 5 p.m. on Friday. The final game is set for 7 p.m. on Saturday.

The classic, which debuted in December 2022, will include Dowagiac, Edwardsburg and Lawton on the girls’ side, while area boys teams scheduled to compete are Dowagiac, Niles, Watervliet and Benton Harbor.

Due to a last-minute change, there will be no Indiana teams in the field this year as South Bend Riley, which was scheduled to kick off the classic against Dowagiac. Riley withdrew due to a conflict and has been replaced by Thornton Township High School from Illinois.

Tipoff for the Thornton and Dowagiac girls basketball game is still set for 5 p.m. It will be followed by the Dowagiac boys basketball team facing North Lawndale High School from Illinois at approximately 7 p.m.

Play on Saturday begins at 11 a.m. with Niles facing North Lawndale. That game will be followed by the girls basketball game between Hillcrest High School against Edwardsburg at approximately 1 p.m.

That game will be of particular interest to a pair of SMC women’s basketball players as Cameron Thomas played for Hillscrest, while teammate Macey Laubach is an Edwardsburg graduate.

There will also be some interested spectators from the SMC men’s basketball team for the opening game as Nate Goins, Mike Forrest, Zach Stokes and Mari Nichols are all former Vikings.

The third game on Saturday will pit Morgan Park High School from Illinois against the Benton Harbor boys basketball team. Tipoff is scheduled for approximately 3 p.m. The fourth game on Saturday will feature Thornton Township against Lawton at approximately 5 p.m.

Former Tiger Damarion Travis is a freshman on the Roadrunner men’s basketball team.

The final game of the classic is set for approximately 7 p.m.

The Watervliet boys basketball team will take on Glenbrook South High School out of Illinois. Glenbrook is the alma mater of current Roadrunner freshman RJ Davis Jr.

In the inaugural edition of the Holiday Classic, Michigan went 2-3 against teams from Indiana and Illinois. Dowagiac was 1-1 with an easy 46-17 win over Riley. Niles was defeated by Riley 43-29, while Edwardsburg lost to Elkhart, 65-52.

Admission is $5 per day (cash only) at the door. Admission is free for all high school and SMC students with a valid student ID. Children 12 and under are also free.