Four high school varsity basketball teams from around the region will compete this Friday and Saturday in the annual AES Thanksgiving High School Classic.

The event begins at 2 p.m. on Friday and will be held at the Howard Finch Gymnasium in Mount Airy.

The line-up on Friday starts with the East Surry Cardinal girls playing against the Forbush Falcons. The East Surry boys are scheduled to play the Falcons next at 3:45 p.m.

At 5:30 p.m., the Mount Airy girls compete against Elkin. The last game of the night is scheduled for 7:15 p.m., and will be the Bear’s boys playing against Elkin.

On Saturday at 2 p.m. the Elkin girls will play the East Surry. The East Surry varsity boys play Elkin at 3:45.

The Mount Airy girls will play Forbush at 5:30 p.m. The Mount Airy boys then play Forbush at 7:15 p.m.

Mount Airy girls varsity Head Coach Howard Mayo said the event it is a great opportunity for his team and others to compete before the season conference begins on Dec. 4.

“I am able to see where our team is at, ” Mayo said.

The Classic gives coaches and teams a chance to set the tone and go into the season with a definite game plan in mind, Mayo said. The teams compete against schools of similar size. This gives the time necessary to “figure out the strengths and weaknesses of a team,” Mayo said.

Mayo said that two years ago, the Bears traveled as far as Mitchell County to compete in this type of play before regular conference season started.

He added that he is grateful that the sponsorship of Advanced Electronic Systems and Moody Funeral Home has made the program a success for Mount Airy High School and others.

“The schools coming together to compete in something like this is always a good thing.”