Three teams that made it to last year’s Class 4A boys state tournament will be on the floor today at Vicksburg High School for the city’s annual Red Carpet Classic.

Defending 4A state champion New Hope will be joined by the host Vicksburg Gators and the St. Stanislaus Rockachaws, while the third-ranked Warren Central girls will be featured as well. And the opener will be the first meeting in any sport between Vicksburg’s two private schools, Porters Chapel Academy and St. Aloysius.

Warren Central girls coach and Classic committee member Donny Fuller said today’s Classic will be a memorable event.

“For the first time, we have all four schools playing at the same place. It’s a great thing for the whole community,” Fuller said. “We wanted to improve the attendance of the morning games with St. Aloysius, and I think we’ve done that by having them play Porters Chapel. I think it’s something we needed to do.

“As for us and Vicksburg, it’s another great opportunity to play in front of a good crowd,” Fuller said.

The actual lineup of games was not set until Thursday as Vicksburg and Warren Central wrangled with the schedule. New Hope, which is playing a division game tonight, wanted to play in the late games, but those plans were upset by St. Stanislaus coach Jay Ladner’s request this week to play Vicksburg (15-5).

St. Stanislaus, which this week cracked the Clarion-Ledger’s Top 10, wanted a marquee game with the Gators. The Warren Central boys, who are just 3-17, will face New Hope (13-4) at 2:30. The New Hope girls (9-6) will take on the Missy Gators (8-11) at 4 p.m. Fuller’s Lady Vikes (19-2) get Brookhaven at 1 p.m.

Vicksburg coach Dellie C. Robinson was glad the schedule was eventually worked out and his team will get a shot at the Rockachaws. Vicksburg beat another coast team last year in Long Beach in last year’s Classic at Warren Central.

“It’s another fun game for us,” Robinson said. His Gators had a fun time last Monday, knocking off two-time defending Class 5A champion Provine 64-51 at the Martin Luther King Day Hoopfest at Lanier in Jackson.

Robinson, however, said his team won’t have any prep time for the Rockachaws because they had a crucial Division 3-4A game Friday at home against Yazoo County. VHS won easily, 62-35.

“We have to focus on Yazoo County because the way our division is right now with everybody but Callaway bunched up, we’ve got to win,” Robinson said. “I do know that Stanislaus has a real good team. They have a good big man and a real good point guard in (Danny) Grieves. They are a patient team and will work the ball until they get the shot they want.”

Grieves, who leads St. Stanislaus with 20 points per game, will be reunited with his national team roommate, Vicksburg High’s Mychal Ammons. The pair roomed together in Switzerland and started in the backcourt for the U.S. 15-and-under team that won the FIBA world title in 2007. Both players are currently ranked as two of the top prep players  in Mississippi for the class of 2011 by a host of recruiting sites.

“It’s going to be pretty cool to see Danny again,” Ammons said after he led the Gators with 26 points in the win over Provine. It was Ammons’ third game back since being out 14 games with an ankle injury.

The injury bug, however, has bitten the Gators again. Kelsey Howard, the team’s leading scorer with 18 points per game, was hurt late in the Provine game. He missed Friday’s win over Yazoo County and will not play today.

“He has a hip contusion and is out until at least Tuesday,” Robinson said. “He got hurt on a foul near the baseline late in the Provine game. He tried to play at Callaway, but we took him out early.”

Injuries are also a concern for St. Aloysius coach Gary Miller, whose girls will face Porters Chapel (2-13) without two starters. Guards Ashtin Giambrone (ankle) and Aden Rials (ribs) are out of today’s game with PCA, which will start at 10 a.m.

“Both of them got hurt at Pelahatchie Tuesday night. Ashtin has a severely sprained ankle and Aden has a deep bruise in her ribs after she hit a beam near the walk-up to the stands,” Miller said.

Hallie Hoxie, who scored 11 points at Pelahatchie, will likely start for Giambrone and Brittany Turner is the likely fill-in for Rials.

“I plan on using all of the girls. We don’t have many left,” Miller said.

He will have Katie Koestler available. Koestler started at PCA before transferring to St. Al in her sophomore year.

“It should be a fun game for her,” Miller said.

The St. Al boys (10-11) will tangle with PCA (6-12) at 11:30. The game will pit St. Al center Alex Lanier against PCA center Jacob Rachal.

Fuller’s Lady Vikes will face a Brookhaven team that has had to rebuild after making the 2007 Class 4A finals.

“They went from having two of the best six-footers in the state in (Nikki) Byrd and Swayze (Black), to now being more guard oriented. They do have a real good guard in the Collins kid,” Fuller said.

Kearra Collins leads Ole Brook, which has lost to McComb twice and Forest Hill once this season.

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Players to watch

Pedro Maciel, guard,St. Stanislaus — Sharpshooting guard gives Rockachaws a formidable 1-2 punch.

Daniel Grieves, forward, St. Stanislaus — Phenom 6-foot-6 forward will battle Mychal Ammons in a marquee matchup of two of the state’s best sophomore players.

Kearra Collins, guard, Brookhaven — Junior guard leads Brookhaven with 17 points per game.

Mychal Ammons, forward, Vicksburg — Returned from ankle injury and is a perennial double-double threat every night, averaging 14.7 points per contest.

Sha’Kayla Caples, forward, Warren Central — Caples is one of the state’s best players and a Louisiana Tech signee, averaging 25.6 points per game.

Jacob Rachal, center, PCA — Primary offensive threat for the Eagles will match up with St. Al’s Alex Lanier.

Alex Lanier, forward, St. Aloysius — Lanier averages a double-double for the Flashes.

Alexus Strigus, guard, Vicksburg — Defensive terror and 3-point shooter.

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Contact Jeff Byrd at jbyrd@vicksburgpost.com