St. Pius X High School will host the 12th annual St. Pius X Christmas Classic, Dec. 27-29.

The tournament features 16 boys and girls basketball teams from seven states and the District of Columbia. It’s considered one of the premier Catholic high school basketball tournaments.

Winners of the event are presented with the Monsignor Richard Lopez Trophy, named after Msgr. Lopez, a teacher at St. Pius X since 1980.

Teams that are competing in both divisions of the tournament this year are St. Pius X, Charlotte Catholic and Pinecrest Academy. Other teams participating in the boys division are Brother Martin High School, New Orleans, La.; Archbishop Carroll High School, Washington, D.C.; Archbishop Alter High School, Kettering, Ohio; St. Joseph’s Catholic School, Greenville, S.C.; and Prince Avenue Christian School, Athens; while Xavier University Preparatory School, New Orleans; McGill-Toolen Catholic High School, Birmingham, Ala.; St. Hubert Catholic High School for Girls, Philadelphia, Pa.; Oakland Catholic High School, Pittsburgh, Pa.; and Tri-Cities High School, East Point, round out the girls’ field.

The games are scheduled to tip off Tuesday, Dec. 27, with eight games in each gym beginning at 1:30 p.m. The tournament concludes with the final game of the night at 8 p.m. featuring the Golden Lions boys team taking on Pinecrest.

The girls squad will also host Pinecrest earlier in the evening at 6 p.m. Games on Wednesday, Dec. 28, begin with consolation bracket play at 12:30 p.m., and championship bracket play at 1 p.m.

The finals of the girls bracket will be Thursday, Dec. 29, at

5 p.m. and the boys games at 7 p.m. The third-place games for each division will start at 3 p.m., with the fifth-place and seventh-place games at 1 p.m. and 11 a.m., respectively, for both brackets.

In addition to the tournament games, a Mass and banquet will be held the night of Monday, Dec. 26, for all teams and families. St. Pius X also sponsors a dance on Wednesday evening after the games.

Tournament passes may be purchased for $12, and single-day tickets are available at the game site for $5. Basketball players in the Catholic Metro League of Atlanta are admitted free if they wear their jerseys.