HARLINGEN — A holiday sporting tradition has apparently come to an end this year as the annual Dr. Keillor Classic basketball tournament will not be played.
For the past four decades, the Keillor brought in some the best boys and girls hoops teams in the area for a two-day event that always started the day after Thanksgiving. It’s believed the tournament began in 1982.
Last season, both the Harlingen High boys and girls teams took home the titles as the Cardinals topped crosstown rival Harlingen South and the Lady Cards beat Hondo.
Unfortunately, neither squad will be able to defend their titles this year as a lack of commitment from other teams forced Harlingen CISD officials to call it off.
While the exact reason as to why so many teams declined invitations this season remains unclear, it may have had something to do with the fact that many Valley school districts, including Harlingen, chose to give their students the entire week off for Thanksgiving this year, said Harlingen South head basketball coach Brian Molina.
“I think having the entire week off made it easier for coaches to just give their teams the break rather than play right after the holiday,” Molina said.
Lady Cardinals head coach Ashley Moncivaiz, who played in the Keillor during her high school days at Harlingen High back in the early 2000s, expressed disappointment that her team would not be able to defend the title they worked so hard to win last year.
“It’s hard because you work so hard to win it and now you don’t get a chance to see if you had what it takes to do it again,” she said.
“Unfortunately, I think we were hurt by the fact that so many schools decided to take the whole week off this year. It changed the schedule everyone had developed over the years when we used to go to school for at least part of the week.”
Regardless of the recent holiday schedule change, participation in the Keillor had been dwindling, especially on the boys side where the format had to be changed in recent years from a typical bracket-style play to a round-robin setup to account for a lack of teams.
Still, both Molina and Moncivaiz said they hope to see the Keillor return as soon as next year.
“I don’t know if maybe we can move it to a later date when more teams would be available, but hopefully we can work something out so that we can get it back,” she said.