by Lauren Redfern

Dayton has been host to the second-best prep tournament in the nation according to USA-Today sports. Flyin’ to the Hoop is celebrating its 15 year anniversary this year. This one of a kind weekend January 13-16 is held at Trent Arena, home to the Kettering Firebirds. The event has been welcoming teams from all over the nation to play one or two games against some of the best teams in the Midwest.

This year to mark the anniversary, the tournament directors decided adding a girls’ basketball game in the mix would be a nice addition to “spice” things up. The girls’ game included back to back state champs Kettering Archbishop Alter vs. Cleveland St. Joseph Academy. The event also presented a scholarship to a local player. The games started on Friday night with the home team Kettering Firebirds facing off against the Sidney Yellowjackets. Saturday games started at 11:30 and then 5 more games followed. This trend continued to Sunday and then Monday.

All games for this event are live streamed and radio broadcasted. Founder Horstman states this a great event for college coaches to find their diamond in the rough player. With 10 teams in attendance, there is an overload of talent in the arena. College coaches like Bob Huggins is always a fan favorite at the even. So, if you consider yourself a basketball fan this is an event to put on your bucket list.