WACO, Texas (KXXV) — Midway celebrates the holidays with the annual M.T. Rice Tournament, and this is the 63rd edition of the tournament and the teams get in on the excitement.
"You know it's Christmas time that's for sure, but it's a way to kinda get us back in the swing of things before we head back into our district season," said Midway girls basketball head coach, Selena Winbush.
"It's a tough tournament, so you've got to have your mind right but at the same time you want to enjoy the time as well," she said.
"It's a big tournament, especially here in Waco — for us to be part of it, it's a big deal," said University boys basketball head coach, Ricardo Felix.
"I know the kids really enjoy it and they like to play in front of the home crowd, so that's always a positive."
This year the girls bracket is changing — they are putting teams in pools from A-D and it makes match ups a little easier to follow.
"I actually like it — you already know who you're gonna face and it's just winners in each pool get to play wherever you like, wherever you fall, so I like it," Winbush said.
Most teams have started district play and the M.T. Rice Tournament is a way for our local teams to get back in after the winter break and prep to resume district games.
"You know, a lot of this I tell them, you know, we love to compete in tournaments like this because you play a lot of good competitions, especially in the 6A ranks," Felix said.
"I tell them that this is all just to prepares for district and that's what matters the most."
"Well we just got to build on what we've been building on to get better at district like ultimately playoffs, eventually state run type thing so our goal is to focus on getting back prepared for district," Winbush said.
The tournament will conclude on Saturday as teams get ready to resume district play.