By Eric Lusk
Sports Editor
elusk@elkintribune.com

For the second year in a row, Starmount’s girls basketball team has been picked as the “invited guest” for the annual Mary Garber Holiday Classic basketball tournament in Winston-Salem.

The Rams, the only non-Forsyth County school in the 13-team field, drew the No. 4 seed for the event. Coach Kyle Hutchens’ group finished fourth in the Garber tournament last year.

The tournament begins Tuesday, Nov. 17, but Starmount has a bye into the quarterfinals. The Lady Rams will face either Glenn, Atkins or North Forsyth in its first game on Saturday, Nov. 21 at 3 p.m. The contest will be played at Atkins High.

The consolation and semifinal rounds will be played Monday, Nov. 23 at Carver and Atkins. The consolation final, third-place game and championship contest all will be Tuesday, Nov. 24.

If Starmount wins its first game, it likely will face top-seeded Mount Tabor, the defending champion, in the semifinals.

“This year, with the addition of FCD (Forsyth Country Day), we didn’t know if we would be able to play because of the field of 12 already from Forsyth County, but they asked us back,” Hutchens said. “I know it was a great experience for us last year going into conference.

“This year, with as young as we are, I think it will be a good chance for us to grow up in a hurry. When you play teams like Mount Tabor and RJ Reynolds, it helps you not only for conference but playoffs as well.”

Starmount is coming off one of its best girls basketball seasons in years. The 2008-09 Rams finished 19-8, placing third in the competitive Mountain Valley 2A Conference behind Ashe County and North Surry. Starmount lost a heartbreaking first-round state playoff game at West Stanly 54-52.

The Rams join the new-look Mountain Valley 1A/2A this season, keeping Ashe as a conference partner. North Surry is now part of the Northwest 1A/2A. The rest of the MVAC includes Wilkes Central, North Wilkes, West Wilkes, East Wilkes, Elkin, Forbush and Alleghany.

Hutchens’ 2008-09 bunch went 2-2 in the Garber tournament. The Rams beat North Forsyth, then toppled second-seeded Parkland 68-67 before falling to No. 3 Glenn (58-47) and No. 5 Reynolds (57-47).

“The Sportsman Club of Winston-Salem runs a great tournament,” Hutchens said. “”It’s going to be a lot of fun this year and you just never know what could happen.”