The first high school holiday basketball tournament I ever covered was an eight-team boys event played in, of all places, Wishkah’s compact gym.

The Wishkah Christmas Tournament was staged only once, in 1979, and didn’t produce any classic games.

I still remember it fondly, though, partly because of a couple of historical footnotes and partly because it had creativity in its organization that some of its successors have lacked.

In addition to the host Loggers, the field included Ocosta, North Beach, Rainier, Mary M. Knight, the Aberdeen and Hoquiam C squads and Wishram, the tiny Columbia Gorge school that has since merged with Lyle for athletic purposes.

Since many of the teams, with a couple of exceptions, rarely played each other and it was held during an era in which large-school C squads almost never faced small-school varsities, the tourney spawned some legitimate curiosity about the outcome.

As it developed, however, it played out fairly predictably.

The tournament’s two largest schools, Ocosta and North Beach, would up facing off for the championship. Coached by Jim Conn, one of the all-time characters in the Twin Harbors coaching fraternity, the Wildcats wound up beating the Hyaks, 73-62 (an amazingly high score considering Conn’s penchant for slowdown basketball).

John Carthum, Scott Hartsoch and Larry Parbon were among the Ocosta standouts in that tourney. Playing but failing to score for the Wildcats in the title contest was Colin Cowherd. Yep, that’s the same Colin Cowherd who has since become one of the nation’s most prominent sports talk-show hosts, first for ESPN and currently for Fox Sports.

Better times were also ahead for several members of the Aberdeen C squad. Randy Hancock, who coached that team in the Wishkah tourney, was later promoted to head varsity coach and guided the Bobcats to the state 2A championship some 2 1/2 years later. Five members of the Aberdeen C squad club at Wishkah suited up for the state title contest.

Several Twin Harbors communities have hosted holiday tourneys in the 37 years since the Wishkah event folded. In recent years, Raymond, North Beach and Willapa Valley have staged co-ed events.

They have generated a handful of memorable contests. Hoquiam’s double-overtime boys victory over a Morton/White Pass team on the cusp of greatness (the Timberwolves won state 2B championships the following two seasons) at the 2012 Raymond tourney was one of the most exciting games played in this area during the past five years. South Bend’s 51-50 win over host Willapa Valley in the championship game of the 2009 Jack Q. Pearson boys tournament contained one of the wildest finishes of any game I’ve ever covered.

For the most part, however, these tourneys could use a more ambitious approach — and perhaps more geographic diversity — in filling their fields.

Directors of holiday tournaments face a surprising number of decisions regarding the composition and format of their events.

They can choose to rely solely on schools located within easy driving distance of the host site or bring in some fresh blood in the form of other teams from around the state.

Organizers of Willapa Valley’s Pearson Memorial Tournament have taken the former approach — traditionally inviting South Bend, Pe Ell and Naselle to join the host Vikings. Considering the scarcity of hotels in the greater Menlo area, that’s probably the right strategy for that particular tournament.

With ample lodging and tourism opportunities in Ocean Shores, North Beach’s Holiday With the Hyaks tourney should have the greatest upside potential in attracting quality teams from outside the area. For whatever reason, that hasn’t materialized in recent years. Only three girls teams participated at North Beach last week.

While acknowledging that tournaments composed primarily of local entries tend to draw larger crowds, Raymond athletic director Mike Tully said he prefers to rely on a mix of teams for his event.

“I looked to get teams from different leagues from different leagues and classifications,” Tully said. “I think getting competitive match-ups is important as well. The hope is to get teams that are fairly even in hopes of having some good games like that Hoquiam/MWP game. Nobody wants to waste a non-league game on a blowout if they can help it.”

For the most part, Twin Harbors holiday tournaments in recent years have been glorified co-ed quadrupleheaders, with pairings for both days pre-determined and no official champions crowned.

That trend, however, may well be changing. Willapa Valley staged its first true tournaments (complete with title games) last week for the first time since 2009. Raymond might follow suit next season.

I’ve lobbied for years against tournaments in which the pairings are pre-determined. Oddly enough, however, I’ve also modified my position — although in a manner that still runs contrary to the philosophy of many coaches.

Perhaps the most attractive of the holiday tourneys involving Harbor teams was last week’s Lynden Cloud Nine girls event.

Montesano, a state-ranked Class 1A team, faced previously once-beaten Bellevue Christian and Lynden, a 2A team with only two losses. Class 4A Monroe completed the field.

No championship was awarded. But with such a high-caliber, geographically diverse entry list, I’m not sure one was needed to generate interest in the event.

The more local the field, the more it is necessary (at least in my view) to determine a champion. A Willapa Valley-Naselle boys match-up, for example, doesn’t do much to move the excitement needle unless some hardware is at stake.

Unfortunately, some coaches and athletic directors advance precisely the opposite argument. They believe that avoiding a second or third meeting with a team the host club has already faced trumps all other considerations.

Of course, that can be avoided by inviting teams not on the host team’s schedule to a holiday tournament.

Or considering that he was a member of the championship team in the first and only Wishkah Christmas Tournament, Colin Cowherd might be persuaded to lend his name to such an event.

A Colin Cowherd Holiday Classic could bring some much-needed buzz to the Twin Harbors holiday hoop scene.

Rick Anderson: (360) 537-3924; randerson@thedailyworld.com