WINONA LAKE – The annual Bennigan’s Terry Polston Hoops for Hope Tournament will be held this weekend at the Manahan Orthopaedic Capital Center.

This year’s tournament, including Grace’s men’s and women’s teams, features eight games over the weekend and five teams either ranked or receiving votes nationally.

Admission to watch the games is $5 per day, and all proceeds will go directly to Kosciusko County Cancer Care Fund (KCCCF). The tournament is sponsored by Bennigan’s of Warsaw and the Warsaw Morning Optimist Club. All cancer survivors are welcome to attend the tournament free of charge. The tournament is also in remembrance of D.A.R.E. Officer Terry Polston, who succumbed to lung cancer after a nine-year battle.

“Our goal each year is to raise around $2,000. We want to raise money but also to raise awareness in the community,” said Grace’s men’s coach Jim Kessler. “We chose to channel our money to KCCCF rather than the Jimmy V Foundation like most other schools do because all of the money stays local to benefit the area. It’s been a neat thing for us to be involved with as a team.”

TOURNAMENT CENTRAL

The women’s tournament is a classic format. Defending national champ and No. 1-ranked St. Francis will face No. 12 Cardinal Stritch at 2 p.m. on Friday, and Grace (receiving votes nationally) will host Judson at 6 p.m. On Saturday, St. Francis will take on Judson at 10 a.m. with Grace and Cardinal Stritch squaring off at 2 p.m.

The men’s bracket kicks off on Friday at 4 p.m. when IU-East (receiving votes nationally) will play Clarke at 4 p.m., and Grace (receiving votes) will host Grace Bible College at 8 p.m.

The men’s consolation game will take place on Saturday at noon with the championship game to tip off at 4 p.m.