30th annual Sentry Classic begins Thursday, Dec. 27 Two men's collegiate teams and 12 high school basketball squads will again gather at the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point's Quandt Fieldhouse for one of the state's premier holiday basketball events in the 30th annual Sentry Classic. This year's tournament is set for Thursday through Saturday, Dec. 27-29. UW-Stevens Point's men's basketball team, which is ranked 14th in the NCAA Division III, will play in this year's event, along with the boys and girls squads from both Stevens Point Area Senior High School and Stevens Point Pacelli High School. The boys tournament features two ranked teams and the girls tournament has two state tournament participants from last season. The tournament is co-sponsored by the Community Parks Improvement Committee, Sentry Insurance and UW-SP. Since 1970, the CPIC has raised nearly $300,000 for community projects in the Stevens Point area. The Pointer men are 9-2 overall and will host first-time participant St. Francis (Ill.) in the final game of the tournament Saturday, Dec. 29, at 8 p.m. The Pointers are participating in the tournament for the 24th time and are 26-4 overall in the classic. The game with St. Francis is a rematch of a 77-61 Pointer victory on Dec. 1 in Joliet, Ill. Headlining the high school portion of the tournament is the Brown Deer boys team, which is ranked third in the latest Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel state rankings of schools with enrollments under 900. The Falcons feature one of the state's top players in 6-10 forward Steve Novak, who has signed to play at Marquette next season. Brown Deer opens action on Friday, Dec. 28, at 3:30 p.m. against Wisconsin Rapids in the National Division of the tournament. The Falcons also precede Saturday's university game by taking on SPASH at 6:15 p.m. SPASH opens against Holmen in Friday's nightcap at 8:45 p.m. The Pacelli boys are the host team in the American Division, which includes Amherst, Suring and Pittsville. Pacelli will open play Thursday, Dec. 27, at 8:45 p.m. against Pittsville, which is 6-1 overall and ranked fourth in the latest Journal-Sentinel rankings of schools with enrollment under 400. Amherst and Suring play at 7 p.m. Thursday. The tournament opens on Thursday, Dec. 27, at 3:30 p.m. as the SPASH girls, who were last year's WIAA Division 1 runner-up, face Hortonville. Wausau Newman, a WIAA Division 4 state tournament participant a year ago, takes on Stevens Point Pacelli in the second game at 5:15 p.m. The schedule: Thursday, Dec. 27 Girls: SPASH vs. Hortonville, 3:30 p.m. Girls: Pacelli vs. Wausau Newman, 5:15 p.m. Boys American: Amherst vs. Suring, 7 p.m. Boys American: Pacelli vs. Pittsville, 8:45 p.m. Friday, Dec. 28 Boys National: Wisconsin Rapids vs. Brown Deer, 3:30 p.m. Boys American: Pacelli vs. Suring, 5:15 p.m. Boys American: Pittsville vs. Amherst, 7 p.m. Boys National: SPASH vs. Holmen, 8:45 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 29 Girls: Pacelli vs. Hortonville, 1 p.m. Girls: SPASH vs. Wausau Newman, 2:45 p.m. Boys National: Holmen vs. Wisconsin Rapids, 4:30 p.m. Boys National: SPASH vs. Brown Deer, 6:15 p.m. College Men's: UW-SP vs. University of St. Francis, 8 p.m.