When the COVID pandemic led to the cancellation of the annual Capital Area Holiday Basketball Tournament, area athletic directors pulled together to create the Capital Classic in 2022. Now in its third year, the Capital Classic is expanding to eight teams and is eyeing a likely return to its pre-pandemic format at NHTI in 2025.

Six of the eight schools that participated in the holiday tourney for several years through 2019 – Concord High School, Bishop Brady, Pembroke Academy, Hopkinton, Merrimack Valley and John Stark Regional – competed in the Capital Classic for the last two years. This year, Bow High is back in the fold, while the Concord Christian Academy girls and ConVal boys are filling out their respective brackets.

“This has been a true collaborative effort among area athletic directors to get this tournament up and running for the past three years,” Hopkinton athletic director Dan Meserve said in a press release.

“This year we are thrilled to offer a true Capital Area classic – featuring eight boys’ and girls’ area basketball teams, (with the addition of Bow), plus adding the Concord Christian girls and ConVal boys to round out each draw. … It is important to stress what a collaborative effort this has been among the area athletic directors.”

Like the past two editions, this year’s tournament will be held across three different venues. Merrimack Valley will host the first two rounds of the girls’ tournament on Friday and Saturday. Bow will host the first two rounds of the boys’ tournament on the same days. Pembroke will host the medal round (two championship games and two third-place games) on Dec. 30.

Kenny Edwards, Mike Desilets and Fred Vezina, the athletic directors for MV, Bow and PA, respectively, have done a lot of work to host the tournament, while Rodney Brown (John Stark AD), Larry Averill (Bishop Brady), Steve Largy (Concord) and Meserve are handling other duties behind the scenes.

With former Bishop Brady athletic director and girls’ basketball coach Annie Mattarazzo starting as the NHTI AD in November, there are discussions about having the tournament return there in 2025.

Those who are planning on attending games later this week will be able to do so free of charge thanks to the generous support of the tournament’s sponsors: Northeast Delta Dental, Brine’s Team Sales, Concord Orthopaedics, Empire Beauty School, Thibeault Heating & Cooling and Granite State Physical Therapy.