While I’ve only been in Selma for half a year, one of the things I’ve come to appreciate is the high quality of high school basketball in Dallas County.

Local teams routinely display athleticism, toughness and, much like the crowds that cheer them on, intensity that makes the game of basketball a fun sport to watch.

And when a pair of local schools meet on the court, classification (which is often mistakenly regarded as a measure of a school’s talent when in reality it measures the number of students attending a school) goes out the window and any team can win on any given night, as evidenced by Class 1A Keith High School going toe to toe with Class 4A Southside and Class 5A Selma High, sometimes winning and other times falling only by a single-digit margin.

Less than a month ago, I remember talking to Southside boys head basketball coach and athletic director Cedric Brown about the Southside Christmas Tournament held on the two days preceding Christmas Day.

Brown said the tournament was conceived as an event between the four major public schools in Dallas County — Selma High, Southside, Keith and Dallas County High School.

However, for whatever reason, Dallas County High School did not participate, leaving Southside, Selma, Keith and out of county invitee Montgomery Academy as the four participants in the event.

Brown’s admirable goal looked to fill a need in Dallas County — the need for local schools to come together more often in athletic competition. With the Alabama High School Athletic Association releasing its football and basketball reclassifications for Fall 2012 through Spring 2014 over the past couple of months, Southside is poised to enter an area where its closest area opponent is about two hours away.

Southside isn’t the only local school that will rack up mileage and travel costs in the 2012-2013 basketball season, as Dallas County and Selma High School enter situations where their closest area foes are an hour-long drive away, but Southside is clearly in the worst travel situation.

The local schools often play each other in non-area games with each school showing up on the other’s schedule three or so times, but there needs to be more of an effort to get everyone involved.

An annual tournament, or a pair of tournaments with one taking place in each half of the season involving all the local AHSAA teams, would help schools save money on travel for a few more games each season.

Tournaments of that nature could also help add more competitiveness to existing rivalries.

The tournaments don’t have to stop at the aforementioned four teams, as Ellwood Christian Academy will be joining AHSAA Class 1A in the upcoming season as well.

The schools from neighboring Perry County—R.C. Hatch and Francis Marion—and Wilcox Central High School, teams that routinely play in Dallas County a few times each season, could also get involved. Those teams and the fans that travel with them will have to use local businesses and hotels which will have a positive impact on the local economy, no matter how small.

And there’s no shortage of venues to host the game, with Wallace Community College-Selma routinely hosting high school games and the new Selma High School gym on track to open before the start of next season.

An annual Dallas County basketball tournament would be great for travel and would help schools and school systems cut down on travel spending, which is important as gas prices continue to rise. The tournament would also have the added effect of creating camaraderie, competitiveness and bringing the community closer together, which is always a good thing.