We all have things are somewhat special to us and certainly for me the WOBM Christmas Classic falls into that category. Sure to most it’s just a basketball tournament that fills some time during the holiday season but for me it’s always been more than that. Starting in 1984 with eight Boys teams the tournament has grown into a 32-team Boys and Girls event that’s played over 7 days at the Poland Spring Arena on the campus of Toms River High School North. One of the annual highlights is the “Tipoff Brunch” which once again was hosted by the Quality Inn of Toms River on Monday morning. Nearly 300 players, coaches, tournament officials and guests attended the event where we announced the seeds and pairings
as the tournament gets underway this weekend.

With four starters back there was little surprise that two-time defending champion Rumson-Fair Haven would garner the top seed in the Girls Division and the Bulldogs begin their title quest Saturday night against Lacey in what will be the last of eight first-round games played that day. Led by Rutgers-bound Christa Evans, Jackson Memorial is the #2 seed and plays Raritan, Point Boro secured the #3 spot and will open with Barnegat and 4th seeded Toms River North takes on Ocean.

The boys hit the court on Sunday with defending champion Jackson Memorial the top seed and set to battle Ocean in the last game of the day. Coach Joe Fagan thinks this Jaguars team might be better than last year when as the 10th seed they won the championship. Among the teams expected to provide plenty of competition is #2 seed Point Boro, who plays Brick on Sunday. Manchester gets the #3 spot and an opening round contest with Toms River East while fourth-seeded Toms River North meets Monroe. The complete schedule is available at
wobm.com.

At yesterday’s event we honored Professional Orthopaedic Associates of Toms River, Tinton Falls and Freehold for their longstanding support. Dr. David Gentile was on hand to accept the Jim Ruhnke Award for contributions to the tournament.
Professional Orthopaedic Associates has sponsored and helped provide Athletic Trainers in recent years to work the 52 games that will be played starting this weekend. Later this week I will talk about another aspect of the WOBM Christmas Classic which makes it a rather unique event.