The three-day event, which will feature state heavyweights such as Chaminade-Julienne and Cincinnati Mount Notre Dame, will also allow local teams to shine.  Of the 31 teams competing in the 20 scheduled games, two teams are from Holmes County (Hiland and West Holmes), one team is from Tuscarawas County (Dover), while one is from Coshocton County (River View).

The event's host, the Hiland Lady Hawks, will match up against Youngstown Ursuline, on Saturday, January 15 at 8:30 p.m. and will wrap-up the event by playing Archbishop Hoban, on Monday, January 17 at 8:30 p.m.

Lady Hawks Coach Dave Schlabach believes that the event offers many positive benefits for the players involved and for the community.

"I think this provides a State tournament-type atmosphere, a chance for teams around the state to come in and get a quality game against somebody they normally wouldn't play," said Schlabach.  "Finally, the exposure to the colleges; 85 colleges aren't going to come watch Berlin Hiland play on a Thursday night somewhere, but they are going to be there this weekend.  It's a good opporutnity for kids to get seen."

"For the community, it brings people in and showcases our area and the hospitality we extend to them," said Lady Hawks Assistant Coach Rob Moser," and hopefully they will return to our area sometime later in the year."

"I'd project $400,000 to $500,000 comes into our community in those three days," added Schlabach.  "You figure, 1,000 players, potentailly 6,000 to 10,000 people (spectators), between hotels, restaurants and craft stores.  Our community supports us all the time with fundraisers and such.  Hopefully, we can bring some business back to them through this event."

Schlabach added that the Garaway Lady Pirates have signed on to be a part of Classic in the Country III in January 2006.

Art Yoder, president of the Hiland Booster Club, reported that his club provided the "manpower" for the event, by enlisting the help of 150 volunteers.

The event's sponsorship has grown over the past year.  Last year's inaugural event had 58 business sponsors compared to 68 business sponsors this year.  The Holmes County Amish Flea Market is the event's lead sponsor.

Even the event's Web site recorded a large boom in number of visitors.  In 2003 the site had 7,200 (new visitors) compared to 16,500 in 2004.  The Web site has recorded 3,900 visitors in the first six days of January 2005, reported Moser.

The majority of local hotels and inns reported that their facilities are booked solid for the weekend, while some of the facilities reported that they still had a few rooms available for the three-day weekend, as of Friday, January 7.

Hiland Athletic Director Colin Mishler added that a big part of this event is the remembrance of two remarkable individuals, Dr. King and Coach Reese.

"Dr King made tremendous sacrifices to change the face of our society," said talent scout and civil rights activist Tom Jenkins.  "I believe that we are duty bound to make some sort of contribution to our society in remembrance of Dr. King.  It doesn't matter how big or small."

"The event benefits the Perry Reese Memorial Scholarship Fund," he added, "which I believe is something that Dr. King would very much endorse if he were with us today."

This is the second year for the three-day event (January 15, 16 and 17), which will feature 31 girls basketball squads from all over the state to showcase their talents in front of 125 scouts and coaches from the top Division I, II and NAIA universities and colleges in the nation.

"I think the talent level this year is better than last year's event," said Schlabach.

Each year we will probably be getting better and better quality teams in here," added Mishler.

This year three of the reigning State champions will be competing in the three-day  event.  Cincinnati Mt. Notre Dame (Div. I), West Branch (Div. II), and Youngstown Ursuline (Div. III), along with the #1 rated sophomore in America, 6-foot-4 Jantel Lavender from Cleveland Central Catholic and the #1 rated freshman in America, 6-foot-1 Amber Gray from Lakota West (West Chester).

All in all, 75 NCAA, Division I prospects will be playing in this event.

Jenkins, a civil rights activist, event director, and executive director of the Ohio Girls Basketball Report, stated that the two teams to watch out for this weekend are Dayton's Chaminade-Julienne, who is currently ranked #10 in the nation by USA Today Super 25 Rankings, and Cincinnati's Mount Notre Dame, who is currently ranked #25 by the same source.

"I will be bold enough to say that any of the four State champions this year from the divisions, will have played in the event this year," said Jenkins.

"Nine of the top 100 seniors in America and four of the top 20 seniors in America are playing in this thing," he added. "Four of the top 20 that are playing are Aisha Jefferson #4 (Chaminade-Julienne, committed to Michigan State), Marshae Dotson #9 (Columbus Mifflin, committed to Florida) Shana Andrus #10 (Barberton, committed to Kentucky), and Michelle Jones #19 (Cincinnati Mount Notre Dame, committed to Cincinnati).

Tickets will be made available at the gate and are $15 for a weekend pass or $7 for single-day admission.  Proceeds will benefit the Perry Reese Jr. Memorial Scholarship Fund.

For more information about Classic in the Country II, visit the event's Web site at classicinthecountry.org or Schlabach at 330.893.2600 or Mishler at 330.893.3135.