St. Mary's, the two-time defending Division I state girls basketball champions, is looking for a challenge. The Lady Knights figure to get that Thursday Dec. 20 through Saturday Dec. 22 at the 12th annual NIke Tournament of Champions Invitational contested at five Chandler high schools.

Seventeen schools from Arizona join St. Mary's in the tournament that features 12, eight-team brackets. St. Mary's is 8-0 this season and has won every game by at least 26 points. St. Mary''s competes in the top bracket -- Division E. Five other teams ranked in MaxPreps Xcellent 25 national rankings also compete in Division E. St. Mary's (No. 4 in the Xcellent 25 rankings and No. 1 in the USA TODAY top 25) plays its first game Dec. 20 against Dr. Phillips, Orlando, Fla., (10-1) at 4:15 p.m. at Hamilton High School. Dr. Phiilips is ranked 19th by USA TODAY. The other Xcellent 25 teams on hand are No. 1 Bishop O'Dowd, Oakland, CA (2-0); No. 5 Riverdale Baptist, Upper Marlboro, Md. (9-0); No. 9  Mater De, Santa Ana, CA. (9-0); No. 23 Ossining, NY (4-0) and No 18 Centennial, Las Vegas, NV, (6-0). One other school in the Xcellent 25 is competing as well -- No. 7 Long Beach Poly, CA in the Joe Smith Division.

Pinnacle, which won the Highland Thanksgiving Tournament, brings a 16-0 record to the tournament. Dobson (7-2) earned runner-up honors earlier this month at the La Jolla Country Day Sweet 16 tournament, a tournament won by LCD (4-0). LCD is ranked No. 7 by USA TODAY. Mountain Pointe (12-1) was runner-up to Pinnacle at the Highland tourney. Hamilton (11-1) was the Division I runner-up to St. Mary's last season and lost its only game this year to Division II defending champ Seton Catholic. Millennium brings a 9-0 record and Boulder Creek sports a 10-4 mark. Also competing at the TOC from Arizona are Liberty (8-2), Mesa Mountain View (8-4), Marcos de Niza (8-5), Desert Vista (5-3), Chandler (5-4), Tolleson (7-6), Mesquite (7-7), Williams Field (5-7), Perry (4-7), Basha (4-7) and Poston Butte (4-8). 

Below are the tournament venue addresses and first games Thursday Dec. 20 for each Arizona school. To view all 12, eight-team brackets go to www.niketournamentofchampions.com, click on 2012 NIke Tournament of Champions (Basketball). Then on the TOC basketball page, click on schedule and results on the right side of the page.

2012 NIKE TOURNAMENT OF CHAMPIONS SITES

Hamilton High School, 3700 S. Arizona Avenue, Chandler; Basha High School, 5990 S. Val Vista Drive, Chandler; Chandler High School, 350 N. Arizona Avenue, Chandler; Perry High School, 1919 E. Queen Creek Road, Gilbert; Arizona College Prepratory, 1150 W. Erie Street, Chandler -- Bracket note: H on bracket = Hamilton; B = Basha; C=Chandler; P= Perry; A=Arizona College Prepratory.

Arizona schools' games on Thursday Dec. 20

John Anderson Division: 4:15 p.m. -- Marin Catholic (2-5) vs. Liberty ((8-2) at Arizona College Prepratory; Division B: 3 p.m. -- Lou Dantzler vs. Williams Field at Perry HS; 5:30 p.m. -- Hawthorne (5-4) vs. Mesquite (7-7) at ACP;  6:45 p.m. -- Perry (4-7) vs. Horizon Christian Academy (6-3) at ACP; Santa Margarita (2-3) vs. Marcos de Niza (8-5) at Perry HS; Division C: 1:45 p.m. -- Hamilton (11-1) vs. Piedmont (6-1) at ACP;  Mike Desper Division: 10 a.m. --  Chandler (5-4) vs. Etiwanda (4-0) at Chandler HS; 1:45 p.m. -- Oaks Christian (3-2) vs. Desert Vista (5-3) at Chandler HS. Division E: 4;15 p.m. - Dr. Phillips (11-1)  vs. St. Mary's (8-0) at Hamilton HS. Division G: 5:30 p.m. -- Salesian (6-0) vs. Pinnacle (16-0) at Basha HS. Division H: 10 a.m. -- Huntington Beach(5-1)  vs. Tolleson (7-6) at Perry HS; 6:45 p.m. -- Rosary (4-2) vs. Basha (4-7) at Perry HS. Division K: 4:15 p.m. -- Bradshaw Christian (4-1) vs. Poston Butte (4-8) at Chandler HS. Division L: 11:15 a.m. -- Archbishop Mitty (4-2) vs. Dobson (7-2) at Perry HS. Division M: 12:30 p.m. -- Mater Dei Catholic(2-2)  vs. Mountain Pointe (12-1) at Basha HS; 6:45 p.m. -- American Fork (7-1) vs. Mesa Mountain View (8-4) at Basha HS. Division N: 3 p.m. -- Sierra Canyon (5-2) vs. Millennium (9-0) at Perry HS; 5:30 p.m. -- Boulder Creek (10-4) vs. Rancho Verde (10-1) at Perry HS.