DES MOINES — The Fort Dodge basketball teams are scheduled to play on the state tournament court well before March.

The Dodgers will travel to Wells Fargo Arena next Thursday, Dec. 12, for a doubleheader against former Big Eight rival Waterloo East as part of the Iowa Wolves High School Hoops Series.

The girls will tip off at 6 p.m. with the boys to follow.

“It should be fun for the kids,” said FDSH girls head coach Scott Messerly. “I put in (a request) for it last year, and this season, they opened it up for more teams. I’m excited for the girls, and the boys, too.

“I thought when we got picked it would be after an Iowa Wolves game, but it will be great to play at Wells Fargo Arena.”

The Iowa Wolves High School Hoops Series is an award-winning series that is hosted annually for schools from across Iowa.

“It was at our November activities director meeting when Tim Moses (the Waterloo East AD) asked if we could move our November 13 game to Nov. 12 and play at Wells Fargo Arena,” said FDSH activities director Brandon Ruffridge. “I had to make a couple of phone calls and work around scheduling conflicts, but we were able to commit.”

Tickets for the event are $10 each. Age two and under do not need a ticket to enter.

Tickets may be purchased online at https://fevo-enterprise.com/event/Fortdodgem64q2j92n8

“It’s a great opportunity for both schools,” Ruffridge said. “It will be great to see and support our kids and the community. Hopefully we can draw a bunch of fans, along with family members and friends from the area.”

It will be part of a busy stretch, which includes five varsity Dodger games in 10 days.

“This is a great opportunity for our school. To get a little bit of a feel for playing the state tournament court and make a commitment to hopefully get back there,” said FDSH boys basketball coach Willie Williams. “Also, it’s a good experience to play on the same court as G-League players.

“We really hope the community shows up and supports the teams. We know Waterloo East travels well, but we want to have the ‘home-court advantage’ even though it’s a neutral site.”

The Iowa Wolves won the NBA G League Youth Basketball award for the 2023-24 season for their game held last January. The contest featured Perry High School and Saydel in a doubleheader.

It was the return to competition for Perry after a tragic shooting at the high school on Jan. 4. In that contest, it was the largest crowd ever for a high school hoops series for the Wolves.

Later in the season, at a Perry home game, Iowa Wolves president of business operations Drew Van Meeteren and director of ticket sales Alex Barker presented the Perry Booster Club with a check for $17,305.

The Iowa Wolves High School Hoops Series gives boys and girls teams from across the state of Iowa the opportunity to play on the Wells Fargo Arena court.

Games are hosted on off days for the Iowa Wolves, or early afternoons before Wolves’ home games.

The series started in 2015 and allows prep basketball teams the opportunity to play a regular season game at the popular downtown Des Moines arena.