Warsaw’s Sarah Ray guards KiLee Knafel of Wawasee during a recent NLC contest. Both players will be in action over the holiday break as Warsaw hosts its own tourney Dec. 27 and Wawasee plays in the Norwell Shootout Dec. 29

A basketball break will come for some area prep teams over the upcoming holiday season.

While some squads will get a little R & R to prepare for the heavy slate of conference games to come after the first of the year, others will try and stay sharp competing in holiday tournaments.

On the boys side, Tippecanoe Valley (6-1) starts the tournament action this Friday and Saturday (Dec. 21-22) by playing host to the Winning Edge Holiday Tournament.  Valley coach Bill Patrick, whose team is scheduled to play Fairfield Friday night at 7:30 in a first-round game, currently has 699 career coaching wins. He is attempting to become just the fifth boys coach in state history to win 700 games.

Also in boys action, Warsaw (3-4) will play host to Kankakee Valley Dec. 28 at Grace College. The Tigers will first host Fort Wayne South tomorrow night (Dec. 20).  Wawasee (3-4), after playing a game at Mishawaka this Friday night, and Triton (5-3) will both be idle during the holiday break. The Warriors return to action Jan. 4 for a Northern Lakes Conference contest at NorthWood and Triton hosts Elkhart Christian Jan. 3. Whitko (1-6) will play in the North Miami Holiday Classic Dec. 28-29 and Lakeland Christian Academy (2-6) will host its Cougar Classic at Grace College Dec. 28-29.

On the girls side, Warsaw (8-0) will host its own four-team tournament Dec. 27 after playing at Triton (8-2) tonight. Wawasee (6-3)  will play in the Norwell Shootout Dec. 29, Whitko (3-7) will compete in the North Miami event Dec. 28-29 and LCA (2-8) will host its tourney at Grace College Dec. 28-29.

The Triton girls squad, currently 8-2, hosts Warsaw tonight and then is off until hosting Oregon-Davis on Jan. 2. Tipppecanoe Valley (4-6) plays at North Judson tomorrow night (Dec. 20) and at West Noble Dec. 29.

Here are the pairings for the area holiday tournaments involving local teams.

Tippecanoe Valley Winning Edge Holiday Tournament
Dec. 21
6 p.m.: NorthWood vs. Rochester; 7:30: Fairfield vs. Tipppecanoe Valley
Dec. 22
6 p.m.: Consolation Game; 7:30: Championship Game
Note: If Friday’s games are cancelled due to inclement weather, they will be played Saturday starting at 10:30 a.m. The consolation game would still start at 6 p.m.

Warsaw Lady Tiger Classic
Dec. 27
10 a.m.: Warsaw vs. South Bend St. Joseph; 11:45: Lowell vs. Perry Meridian
6 p.m.: Consolation Game; 8; Championship Game

Norwell Shootout (girls)
Dec. 29
10 a.m.: Plymouth vs. Norwell; 11:30 a.m.: Brebeuf vs. Wawasee
6 p.m.: Plymouth vs. Brebeuf; 7:30: Wawasee vs. Norwell

North Miami Holiday Classic (girls and boys)
Dec. 28
12:30 p.m.: North Miami vs. Whitko (girls); 2:30: Maconaquah vs. Peru (girls)
6 p.m.: Whitko vs. Peru (boys); 8:00: Maconaquah vs. North Miami (boys)
Dec. 29
1 p.m.: Girls Consolation Game; 3:00: Boys Consolation Game
5:00: Girls Championship Game; 7:00: Boys Championship Game

LCA Cougar Classic (at Grace College)
Dec. 28
8:30 a.m.: LCA vs. Granger Christian (girls); 10 a.m.: LCA vs. Clinton Christian (boys)
11:30 a.m.: Covenant Christian vs. Granger Christian (girls); 1 p.m.: Covenant Christian vs. Clinton Christian (boys);  2:30: LCA vs. South Bend Trinity (girls); 4:00: LCA vs. South Bend Trinity (boys)
Dec. 29
10 a.m.: South Bend Trinity vs. Granger Christian (girls); 11:30: South Bend Trinity vs. Covenant Christian (boys); 1 p.m.: South Bend Trinity vs. Covenant Christian (girls); 2:30: South Bend Trinity vs. Covenant Christian (boys); 4:00: LCA vs. Covenant Christian (girls); 5:30: LCA vs. Covenant Christian (boys)