Warriors are on their way!

The Foxboro Warriors await boarding their plane at T.F. Green Airport (Kate Hill photo).

The Foxboro High School girls' basketball team is on the ground -- and most likely on the court when you read this -- at the KSA Events Holiday Basketball Tournament, held at the Gaylord Palms Resort and Convention Center in Kissimmee, Fla., which is just minutes away from Disney World and all the other tourist attractions in the greater Orlando area.

The Warriors' first game today is scheduled for 1 p.m. against a team from Blacksburg (S.C.) High School, a school of about 500 students. Yes, they found a school actually smaller than Foxboro for the opening contest. Foxboro is unbeaten at 3-0 while Blacksburg checks in at 3-5.

The winner of that game will face the winner of a game between 4-1 Cathedral Prep of Erie, Pa., and 2-1 Wasilla High School of Wasilla, Alaska, in the second round on Thursday. That is likely to be a much greater challenge for the Warriors if they get there, because Cathedral Prep has three high-Division 1 recruits in the starting lineup and Wasilla has 6-foot-5 center Layla Hays, who is attracting considerable attention from a lot of top D1 programs in the lower 48.

That could set up a championship game in the Orange Bracket among the survivor of the other portion of the eight-team bracket, which includes Glen Rose (Texas) at 17-2, Medina (Ohio) at 8-2, Corbin (Ky.) at 8-2 and Sequoyah High School of Canton, Ga., at 9-2.

Glen Rose's home "gym".

You may be wondering why so many schools have played so many more games than Foxboro. It's because unlike backward states in the Northeast that still believe that neither boys' nor girls' basketball can start their seasons before the football season ends, many other states in the Union start up on the hardcourt at the beginning of November.

You should check out Glen Rose's website, too. Their home court is not a gym, it's an arena. It looks very similar to the Hart Center at Holy Cross, just awash in red. That's pretty close to the level of basketball being played in half of that bracket. 

And lest the Warriors fall to defeat in a game, they will be placed in a consolation bracket with a three-game guarantee. Overall, not bad -- even if the weather isn't cooperating. It's supposed to be 70 and cloudy today in Kissimmee. Not exactly poolside weather, but I'm sure there will be plenty to do at all of the attractions nearby.

Anyway, best of luck to the Warriors, who go into this tournament with a 23-game winning streak dating to last year. I'll do my best to get some results up on the blog -- with a little help from my friends in the Foxboro basketball community, of course.