Avoiding Black Friday shopping? There's high school sports to check out

So, waking up at 4 a.m. and fighting crowds through jam-packed stores on Black Friday is not your idea of a good time? Maybe you'd prefer to spend all day watching sports. You don't have to sit in front of the TV to do it.

The Pioneer and Huron high school hockey teams are hosting a two-day tournament at the Ann Arbor Ice Cube while the Huron basketball program will be scrimmaging some of the best teams in the state in Lansing on Friday and Saturday.

There's hockey action around the clock at the Ice Cube, with the Ann Arbor Thanksgiving Tournament starting at 2 p.m. Friday and continuing pretty much nonstop through the final championship game at 8 p.m. Saturday.

The schedule:

FRIDAY Pioneer pool: South Lyon vs. Monroe, 2 p.m.; Pioneer vs. St. Clair Shores, 6 p.m. Huron pool: Troy vs. Lincoln/Milan, 4 p.m.; Huron vs. Hartland, 8 p.m. A2Ice3 pool: Bedford vs. Waterford-Kettering, 5:15 p.m.; Plymouth vs. Utica Eisenhower, 7:15 p.m.

SATURDAY Pioneer pool consolation game, 2 p.m. Huron pool consolation game, 4 p.m. A2Ice3 pool consolation game, 5:15 p.m. Pioneer pool championship game, 6 p.m. A2Ice3 pool championship game, 7:15 p.m. Huron pool championship game, 8 p.m.

Sixteen elite Michigan high school basketball teams were invited to converge at the Don Johnson Fieldhouse in Lansing for the third annual Thanksgiving Super Scrimmage. The event begins at 9 a.m. each day and is free to the public.

Last year, state finalists Detroit Pershing and Kalamazoo Central played in the scrimmage. In 2007, finalists Detroit Pershing and Saginaw High played.

“This could very well be the event that previews this year’s state finalists for 2009-10,” says Lansing Eastern coach Rod Watts, whose team hosts the event.

All teams will play four games. Teams confirmed to participate include Huron, Benton Harbor, Cincinnati Withrow, Dearborn Heights Robichaud, Detroit Country Day, Detroit Cass Tech, Detroit Loyola, Detroit Pershing, Grand Rapids Ottawa Hills, Kalamazoo Central, Lansing Eastern, Lansing Everett, Lansing Sexton, Muskegon Heights and Saginaw Arthur Hill.

The junior varsity and freshman teams will play on Friday. On Saturday, the varsity teams will play.