TIFTON — Two days after Christmas Day, Santa Claus returns to Tift County for 48 hours. The man in the red suit is bringing the gift of six basketball games to Tift County High Dec. 27-28.

Six area high schools are participating in the annual McDonald’s Invitational: Cook, Crisp County, Fitzgerald, Irwin County, Lanier County and Tift County.

Blue Devils head coach Tommy Blackshear has announced the schedule of games.

On the first day, Dec. 27, the Classic opens with Crisp versus Fitzgerald at 5:30 p.m. Cook takes on Irwin at about 7 p.m., with Lanier and Tift in the main event at about 8:30.

Dec. 28 sees Lanier open with Fitzgerald at 5:30 p.m., Cook and Crisp face off at about 7 and Tift and Irwin play the late game again.

Tift was 3-3 going into their first holiday games (later this week) after holding on 59-54 versus Cook. Sophomore Corey Howard is the Devils’ leading scorer with 44 points in six games. TeShawn Bryant, J.J. Lamar, Kaden Lawson and Fred White are all averaging at least five points per contest. Only Bryant and White are seniors.

Lanier County will be bringing a friend of the Blue Devils with them: Chris Wade. The former Tift head coach — who led the Devils to the final four in 2019 — has been back a few times, but this will be the first time head coaching another team.

The Bulldogs were 8-2 going into a Tuesday game against Hamilton County, Fla. Their resume includes wins over Valwood, Cook and Irwin. Lowndes is one of their losses.

Cook is 2-5, but do have an 80-50 blowout of Brooks County to their credit. Irwin, coached by Steve Green, was 2-3 going into a Tuesday game against Clinch County. They will also play at arch-rival Fitzgerald before heading to Tifton. The Indians had a tough start, but had won their last two, against Cook and Berrien.

Fitzgerald’s Purple Hurricane has not approached Category 5 status yet. They have struggled so far for 2023-24 and are 0-6, pending a game against Irwin. Their closest game has been decided by six points and they have had rough outings in every other.

Like Lanier, Crisp’s Cougars have been scorching. They dropped their opener to Turner County, but have won all five since.

Before they play in their own event, Tift County has two games in a tournament at Warner Robins. They play Perry on Dec. 22 and St. Anne-Pacelli the next day. Perry, which won a state football title earlier in the month, was 0-4 heading into a Tuesday game against Hawkinsville.

St. Anne-Pacelli, based out of Columbus, has been red hot, 4-1 going into the tournament with a 12-point win against Valdosta. The Vikings switched over to the GIAA in 2022 and play in Class 4A there. Pacelli has been to the McDonald’s Invitational in Tifton a few times because of coaching connections.

Meanwhile, the undefeated Lady Devils hit the road for two tournaments. Hinesville’s Bradwell Institute and North Paulding are slated for Dec. 22 and 23, respectively, in Brunswick, with games against Buford and North Forsyth Dec. 29 and Dec. 30. Buford is the site of the latter two contests.