NEWPORT-The recently released basketball schedule for Cocke County High School is one of the toughest in school history.

In addition to a revamped District 2-AAA schedule, which has jumped from 10 to 14 games with an addition of two schools to the Inter Mountain Athletic Conference, the school also faces a challenging non-conference slate.

CCHS will play a home-and-home non-conference series with Greeneville, South Greene and Farragut this year, in addition to Hall of Fame games with Lenoir City and Volunteer.

The team opens the season with a Hall of Fame contest at Lenoir City on November 17 and then plays Volunteer on November 21 in Newport, before jumping into the regular season. Hall of Fame games are considered exhibition by the TSSAA, but the governing body allows teams to count the wins and losses in those games at their discretion.

Following the pair of Hall of Fame games, CCHS travels to the WazooSports.com Classic at Knox Central over Thanksgiving, then jumps into District 2-AAA play at Seymour on December 1. Cocke County opens their conference slate by playing four of their first six games on the road.

Cocke County is also involved in a pair of Christmas Holiday tournaments this year. The Fighting Cocks will travel to Midway High School in Roane County for the Midway Christmas Classic on December 26 and 28-29.

The Lady Red were invited back to the GreenBank Ladies Classic for the second consecutive year. The 16-team invitational event runs December 28-31 at Hal Henard Gymnasium in Greeneville.

The team returns from Christmas with eight of their first nine games in conference play, including a January 8 showdown with Morristown West. The schedule closes with three non-conference games before jumping into the postseason.

The District 2-AAA tournament will be held at Morristown East High School this year, while the site for the Region 1-AAA tournament's semifinals and finals has yet to be determined, but will be hosted by District 2.

2009-10 CCHS Basketball Schedule

Tuesday, Nov. 17 @ Lenoir City (HALL OF FAME) 6 PM

Saturday, Nov. 21 vs. Volunteer (HALL OF FAME) 6 PM

November 23/24/27/28 - WazooSports.com Classic @ Knox Central

Tuesday, Dec. 1 - @ Seymour*

Thursday, Dec. 3 - South Greene

Friday, December 4 - @ South Doyle*

Tuesday, December 8 - Morristown East*

Friday, December 11 - Sevier County*

Tuesday, December 15 - @ Cherokee*

Friday, December 18 - @ Jefferson County*

Monday, December 21 - @ Farragut

December 26/28/29 - Boys at Midway Christmas Tournament

December 28/29/30/31 - Girls at GreenBank Ladies Classic

Friday, January 8 - Morristown West*

Tuesday, January 12 - Seymour*

Thursday, January 14 - Greeneville

Friday, January 15 - South Doyle*

Tuesday, January 19 - @ Morristown East*

Friday, January 22 - @ Sevier County*

Tuesday, January 26 - Cherokee*

Friday, January 29 - Jefferson County*

Friday, February 5 - @ Morristown West*

Tuesday, February 9 - @ South Greene

Thursday, February 11 - @ Greeneville

Friday, February 12 - Farragut

February 15-23: District 2-AAA Tournament @ Morristown East

February 26-March 4: Region 1-AAA Tournament @ TBA

Note: All regular season varsity games tip-off at 6:30 p.m. unless otherwise noted.