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KHQA FIRST REPORT: PITTSFIELD THANKSGIVING TOURNAMENT PLANS EXPANSION TO EIGHT TEAMS, ADDITIONS OF ILLINI WEST, MACOMB AND WESTERN

Thanks to a little known Missouri High School by-law...the usually joyous Thanksgiving BasketballTournament slate was turned upside down this season.

Today...the first salvo in restoring order.

As KHQA first reported via Twitter this morning: Pittsfield is poised to expand its Saukee Turkey Tournament from a six to an eight team affair next November.

Hannibal is out and and Pittsfield Athletic Director Don Bigley tells KHQA he has verbal commitments from three high profile, successful Western Illinois programs to round out this suddenly intriguing field.

<"Going to eight teams is something we've wanted to do for years. We've gotten to six a couple times and couldn't find those other two. But this year we have added now for the next tournament Macomb High School, Illini West High School, and Western High School. All good programs. Western is only 15 miles away so it's a great thing for them and for us. We are going to go to two pools of four teams. Each team will play a round robin in their pool then on Saturday we will have the crossover games where two #1s play, two #2s play and so forth. But its something Brad (Tomhave) and I have wanted to do ever since we started the tournment and we are luck enough to have that next year.">

It appears to be one heck of a power grab for the good folks in Pittsfield, making an already stellar tournament even more loaded in the years to come.

What this tournament talent grab means for the QND/Gully Tip Off Tournament and Suns Classic going forward, however...remains to be seen and provides plenty of intrigue. QND Athletic Director Bill Connell tells KHQA that he was caught off guard by word of Western's potential defection from the Gully Tourney and that he had made overtures to Illini West about joining the Gully as well.