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Andalusia High School will be the home of Richard Robertson’s 56th Annual Andalusia Christmas Tournament scheduled for Thursday, Dec. 8, through Saturday, Dec. 10.

The tournament, which is the longest-running basketball tournament in the state of Alabama, will have eight boys’ teams play in a double-elimination format. Andalusia and Red Level will participate in a four-team girls’ bracket that was added for this season. Local county teams Andalusia, Opp, Red Level, and Straughn make up half of the boys’ field and are joined by Georgiana, Greenville, Hillcrest-Evergreen, and Monroe County.

“This is an annual tradition at Andalusia High School for quite some time, and we are glad for the opportunity to host it each season. It should be an exciting three days of basketball for this area. We have some good first-day matchups on the schedule lined up. We also added a couple of girls’ games to the mix and will be recognizing the 2001 4A girls state champions. We invite fans to come and show their support for their favorite teams as we get basketball season underway,” Head Coach Marcus Mickles said.

The tournament begins with five opening-round contests on Thursday. Andalusia and Red Level will square off in girls’ action at 2 p.m. followed by four boys’ matchups beginning with Red Level and Straughn at 3:30 p.m. Georgiana and Monroe County take the court at 5 p.m. before Greenville meets Hillcrest-Evergreen at 6:30 p.m. The first day of action concludes with a tangle between Andalusia and Opp at 8 p.m.

The four losing teams on day one shift to the consolation bracket and meet each other at 2 and 3:30 p.m. on Friday. Greenville and Georgiana will then square off in the second girls’ game at 5 p.m. Thursday’s winners advance to the semifinals at 6:30 and 8 p.m. on day two.

The tournament concludes with contests to determine each team’s final placement Saturday. The seventh place game is scheduled for 1 p.m. with the fifth place contest set for 2:30 p.m. and the third place outing at 4 p.m. The girls’ championship will commence at 5:30 p.m. followed by the boys’ title game at 7 p.m.

Admission is $8 per day, and tickets will be available at the door.

For more information about the tournament, call Andalusia High School at 334-222-7569.

“We would like to thank all the teams for their participation and look forward to getting basketball season underway. Thank you to all our supporters for helping make our annual tournament possible, and good luck to all the teams who are competing,” Mickles said.