In 2014, an 810 Varsity event at Liberty High School was just an idea by 810 Varsity's Chad Rader and Liberty head coach Roger Stirtz.

In 2019, the fifth annual 810 Varsity Tipoff Classic has become a mainstay for Kansas City area high school basketball events.

"I recall Coach (Stirtz) and I talking before the Best of the Midwest Classic at JCCC on the Michael Porter event, and he suggested that Liberty would host," Rader recalled. "I tried it and it was a great success, and here we are five years later. The enviorment has been great and spurred the rest of the events back to high schools."

The Tipoff Classic will be the first of five 810 Varsity events this basketball season. And it still should be a good one with four of the top 13 teams in the 810 Varsity Top 25 in the event.

Leading off the day will be the Mid-Buchanan girls, who finished second in Missouri Class 2 in 2019. The Lady Dragons will face Richmond at 12 pm.

THe Mid-Buch vs Richmond doubleheader continues at 1:30 pm, with the Dragon boys facing Richmond. Mid-Buch reached the Class 2 state tourney before falling shy by two to Plattsburg, while the Spartans finished 19-7 and return a solid cast.

Lee's Summit West and Oak Park collide at 3 pm, as the Titans opened with a narrow 81-76 loss to No. 25 Blue Springs on Monday.

At 4:30 pm, No. 9 Staley will face No. 13 Blue Valley West. The Falcons feature Northwest Missouri State commit Byron Alexander and a solid cast, while the Jaguars have a strong inside-outside game led by Spencer Bain on the perimeter, and O'mar Stanley inside.

The Liberty girls - No. 3 in Class 5 in the Missouri rankings - take on a strong Lee's Summit West team at 6 pm. 

The nightcap features No. 5 Lawrence vs No. 11 Liberty, as both teams are ranked in the top 10 in the state rankings too. Lawrence reached the Kansas Class 6A quarterfinals in 2019 and return junior guard Zeke Mayo (14.4 ppg, 5.4 rebounds) and Kenesaw State commit Mayson Quartlebaum (6-foot-6) inside. Liberty returns just three seniors, one being 810 Varsity second-team selection, senior forward Grant Stubbs (6-foot-6).

Tayvon Glasow, Lee's Summit West
Byron Alexander, Staley
Spencer Bain, Blue Valley West
O'mar Stanley, Blue Valley West
Grant Stubbs, Liberty
Zeke Mayo, Lawrence
Mayson Quartlebaum, Lawrence

Saturday, Dec 7, 2019
Liberty High School

12 pm: Richmond vs Mid-Buchanan (girls)
1:30 pm: Richmond vs Mid-Buchanan 
3 pm: Lee's Summit West vs Oak Park
4:30 pm: No. 9 Staley vs No. 13  Blue Valley West
6 pm: Liberty vs Lee's Summit West (girls)
7:30 pm: No. 11 Liberty vs No. 5 Lawrence

Tickets:
Adults: $7
Students: $5