AHOSKIE – The fourth annual Lt. Nick Brantley Scholarship Tournament will tip off Monday evening.

Four of the founding members of the tournament return this season. Those schools include hosts Ridgecroft School and Lawrence Academy as well as Bethel Christian Academy and Northeast Academy.

The local foursome will be joined by Pungo Christian Academy, who will make their second appearance in the tournament, and newcomer Oakwood School of Greenville. Ahoskie Christian School, who has participated in the tournament for the first three years, was invited but declined to participate.

“We are excited to be welcoming back five of the teams who participated last year as well as welcoming Oakwood School,” said tournament co-director Joe Murray of United Country Joe Murray Realty, one of the co-sponsors. “We believe that we will have an exciting week of prep basketball which will be competitive, fun and foster camaraderie amongst our local schools.”

The tournament opens Monday evening at 4 p.m. with junior varsity contests at both Ridgecroft and Lawrence. In Merry Hill, the Warriors will host Pungo Christian Academy in jayvee girls at 4 p.m. followed by the same teams playing junior varsity boys.

At Ridgecroft, the Rams will host Bethel Christian Academy in junior varsity action. The girls will play at 4 p.m. followed by the boys contest.

The varsity tournament kicks off later that evening. At Lawrence, Pungo Christian Academy will square off with Northeast Academy in a first round matchup. The varsity girls will play after the jayvee boys contest and then the varsity boys will play.

At Ridgecroft, Bethel Christian Academy will meet Oakwood School in varsity action. The schedule follows the same as at Lawrence.

Tuesday night’s action will be held at Lawrence Academy. Two games are on tap for that night. The junior varsity girl’s consolation game will be played at 4 p.m. followed by the JV boy’s consolation game at 5 p.m.

The varsity tournament resumes Wednesday night at Ridgecroft. The first game on the schedule is the winner of the Bethel-Oakwood girls game squaring off with Ridgecroft at 4 p.m. That will be followed by the varsity boys of Ridgecroft also meeting the Oakwood-Bethel winner.

The third game of the evening will feature Lawrence Academy’s varsity girls facing the winner of the Pungo-Northeast matchup and the night’s finale will see Lawrence’s varsity boys meet the Pungo-Northeast winner.

Thursday night will begin with the fifth place game of the tournament as the loser of Monday’s varsity matchup between Northeast and Pungo and Bethel and Oakwood will square off in varsity girls. The second game will be the varsity boy’s losers of the two contests.

The third game of the evening will be the Girl’s Consolation Game as the loser of the two varsity girls games Wednesday will meet. The final game of the night will be the same for the varsity boys.

All games on Thursday will be played at Ridgecroft School.

Friday night will be championship night with all games played at Ridgecroft School. The JV girl’s championship will lead off the night at 4 p.m. followed by the JV boy’s game, the varsity girls’ championship and the varsity boys’ championship.

In addition to the basketball tournament, three scholarships will be awarded during the Lt. Nick Brantley Scholarship Tournament. Players will be chosen who most represent the life and career of Nick Brantley.

“We are excited about the opportunity to award scholarships in an effort to continue to honor Nick Brantley,” tournament co-director Thadd White said. “This tournament has proven to be fun for both participants and fans and we expect this year to be no different.”

Admission is $5 per person per night. No passes will be honored.