The schedule has been released for the 16th annual Heartland Hoops Classic, which will take place on February 10-11, 2023.

The event includes six Nebraska State Basketball Tournament qualifiers, two first-time, out-of-state participants and two out-of-state returning programs, including top-10 ranked Sunrise Christian Academy led by national coach of the year Luke Barnwell.

Two Friday night games at Grand Island Central Catholic will kick off the event weekend and feature the four national teams. At 6:00 p.m. Bishop Walsh (Cumberland, MD) will play Huntington Prep (Huntington, WV). That game will be followed at 7:45 with Sunrise Christian Academy (Bel Aire, KS) playing Real Salt Lake Academy (Herriman, UT).

The main event begins at 9:40 a.m. on Saturday and includes the following seven games that will be played at the Heartland Events Center in Grand Island. Of the 10 Nebraska teams participating, six played in the 2022 state tournament and two more advanced to the district final round.

Those games are as follows:

9:40 a.m. — Freeman vs Central City
11:20 a.m. — Platteview vs Grand Island
1:00 p.m. — Wahoo vs North Platte
2:45 p.m. — Gordon Rushville vs Grand Island Central Catholic
4:30 p.m. — Real Salt Lake Academy vs Omaha Westside
6:15 p.m. — Bishop Walsh (Cumberland, MD) vs Bellevue West
8:00 p.m. — Huntington Prep vs Sunrise Christian Academy

Ticket information and prices will be released in the fall for the event which has Tom Dinsdale Automotive and West Faidley Medical Center as its title sponsors.