Slam Dunk schedule finalized

The Delaware Sports Commission has announced the full schedule of the Slam Dunk to the Beach basketball tournament, which will be held at Cape Henlopen High School Dec. 27-29. The final two teams of the 19-team field, which features representatives from seven states and the District of Columbia, have also been unveiled. Maret School of Washington, D.C., and The Patrick School from Elizabeth, N.J., will round out the 2015 field.

These final additions join the previously announced field, which is headlined by three schools ranked in the newly revealed USA Today Super 25 preseason rankings. Sixth-ranked La Lumiere (La Porte, Ind.), 13th-ranked Roman Catholic (Philadelphia, Pa.), and 20th-ranked Roselle Catholic (Roselle, N.J.) will all enter the 2015-16 season as nationally ranked teams.

In addition to the USA TODAY Super 25 rankings, nine of the 13 teams from the national field have been listed as MaxPreps Early Contenders for the 2015-16 season. La Lumiere and Roman Catholic made the Will Make a Run list which includes the top 13 teams in the country. Roselle Catholic and Ss. Neumann-Goretti (Philadelphia, Pa.) were the 14th- and 19th-rated teams on the list, respectively, with The Patrick School at 22nd overall. Bishop McNamara (Forestville, Md.), Paul VI (Fairfax, Va.), St. Benedict's Prep (Newark, N.J.), and Westtown School (Westtown, Pa.) all made the MaxPreps rankings as teams On the Radar.

This collection of elite teams is three more than last season’s Slam Dunk to the Beach total. Slam Dunk is returning to the Delaware beaches after a successful 2014 relaunch of the iconic tournament that over the years has hosted some of the nation’s premier players, including LeBron James (2001), Kevin Durant (2003), Dwight Howard (2003) and Carmelo Anthony (2000), all now NBA superstars. Slam Dunk to the Beach contributed more than $1 million to the local economy, and more than 10,000 fans watched the exciting action unfold over three days in December 2014.

“We are excited about the caliber teams we were able to attract for this year’s event, and we are even more excited about the caliber of the matchups," said Delaware Sports Commission Chairman Dr. Matthew Robinson. “There are going to be competitive and exciting games featuring some of the country’s best high school players. The quality of the teams and matchups makes Slam Dunk a can’t-miss event for basketball fans.”

The schedule breaks down into day and night sessions, with each day featuring a pair of exciting three-game blocks.

The final announced team will be the first team to play when the event opens Sunday, Dec. 27 at noon with Maret School taking on Appoquinimink (Middletown). In Sunday's night session, Ss. Neumann-Goretti will face Paul VI. Neumann-Goretti junior Quade Green and Paul VI senior V.J. King are both ranked as top 50 players in their respective classes by ESPN.

On day two of Slam Dunk to the Beach, 13th-ranked Roman Catholic will compete against Maret School at 1:30 p.m. The night session will feature back-to-back games with ESPN25 players. Nazreon Reid, rated sixth in the nation among sophomores, and 20th-ranked Roselle Catholic will tip off against Paul VI. Immediately following will be former Slam Dunk to the Beach champion St. Benedict's Prep taking on a Westtown School team that features the seventh-ranked player in the 2018 class, Cameron Reddish.

The First State and the Hoosier State will close out the action Dec. 28, as seven-time Delaware state champion Sanford (Hockessin) challenges USA Today's sixth-ranked La Lumiere. The La Lumiere roster has a multitude of nationally ranked players in every class, including two players in the ESPN60 rankings, Brian Bowen and Jeremiah Tilmon.

The final day will be Tuesday, Dec. 29, and again will feature several of the top-ranked players in the country. At 3 p.m., the third-rated center in the junior class, Nick Richards of The Patrick School will match up against Bishop O'Connell (Arlington, Va.). In the night session, ESPN60's fourth-ranked power forward Mohamed Bamba and Westtown School will play Friendship Collegiate (Washington, D.C.) prior to La Lumiere taking on St. Benedict's Prep. The host school Cape Henlopen (Lewes) will close out the event against Appoquinimink.

The full schedule, with start times for all 18 games, can be found at slamdunktothebeach.com/schedule-2015/.

Tickets for Slam Dunk to the Beach 2015 are on sale at $55 for three-day tournament passes and $25 for single-day passes. A limited number of VIP courtside seat packages, which include exclusive courtside seat plus access to VIP hospitality suite, complimentary Slam Dunk program book and T-shirt, are now available. Tickets can be purchased online at slamdunktothebeach.com or by calling 1-800-441-7223 and pressing 3 for Slam Dunk to the Beach.

For more information, go to slamdunktothebeach.com or follow the tournament on Facebook at Slam Dunk to the Beach, via Twitter @SlamDunkToBeach and on Instagram @SlamDunkDE.

The 2015 Slam Dunk to the Beach is sponsored by 94.7 WDSD-FM, Atlantic Sands Hotel, Big Fish Group, Carl Freeman Foundation, Community Bank, Grotto Pizza, Highway One, Hyatt Place Dewey Beach, Pepsi, Schell Brothers, Sleep Inn, SoDel Concepts, Starboard/Bethany Blues and Sussex County Council.