TIFTON — Tift County head boys basketball coach Chris Wade is putting the final touches on the last details of the annual McDonald’s Invitational, which starts Thursday at the high school.

The three-day event, which features the Blue Devils and Lady Devils, will include 17 games and 14 schools. The schools come from two states, Georgia and Florida, and within Georgia, the teams are coming from 10 different counties. Tickets are $8 for adults and $5 for high school and under each day of the event. Games start at 1 p.m. Thursday and Saturday and at 11:30 a.m. Friday.

Wade likes the lineup of schools in place, which includes an undefeated Maynard Jackson and a Brunswick team that has only lost once. He will be playing two of these, Jackson on Friday and Brunswick on Saturday.

“Both highly ranked,” said Wade of the two opponents.

The Maynard Jackson Jaguars (11-0) are coached by Tift native Travis Williams. They have wins over Southwest Atlanta Christian Academy, Riverwood and Lithia Springs. State runners-up in 2016, they are led by Marquavis Carter, a guard who comes in with an average of 23.6 points per game.

Brunswick, the Class AAAAAA second place team in 2017, has lost just once, to Southwest DeKalb and currently sports 10 wins. A McDonald’s mainstay, they have defeated Coffee twice this season and hold a win over Beach High.

Tift’s boys play all three nights of the tournament.

In their first game, the Blue Devils (7-4), face off with Berrien (8-5).

Once regular rivals, Tift has not lost to the neighboring Rebels in basketball since 1994. A win Thursday might not be as easy as in recent seasons. A Class AA school, Berrien has defeated Thomasville this year and lost by four points last Friday against Lowndes. Sophomore Chris Jennings is averaging 18.8 points per game for Berrien, with 16.7 more coming from Darius Tisby and 14.2 points per game from Jamarquis Johnson.

Williams won’t be the only coach coming to town who has close connections with Blue Devils basketball; Dr. Eric Holland is returning, too.

Holland, who coached Tift to two of its three state hoops titles — including one in March — is bringing his Rome High Wolves for a game.

Rome, with only three games under its belt because of a state football championship, has a 2-1 record. Their starting lineup, said Wade, includes Adam Anderson, a University of Georgia football signee who was recently named the Atlanta Journal-Constitution’s Defensive Player of the Year.

Rome will play Monroe Friday at 7 p.m.

Monroe, the only Albany representative this year, is 4-7.

But don’t let their record fool you, said Wade.

“They’re talented this year,” he said.

Monroe and Tift played close games during the summer. The Tornadoes started 2017 slow, but have a recent three-game win streak.

Monroe will be around all three days, facing Maynard Jackson, Rome and on the final day, Bartow (Fla.).

Bartow, half of the Florida tandem to play in Tifton, is 7-4. The Yellow Jackets come out of Polk County, which Wade said was a hotbed of talent.

The other Florida school is Lake Minneola, a team Tift has faced before, including in the City of Palms tournament a few seasons ago. The Devils defeated Lake Minneola last season. The Hawks are currently 6-4, but have dropped three straight contests.

From the northern half of the state are Rome, Jackson and South Cobb.

South Cobb is 6-3, with a win over state power Allatoona. In early games, the Eagles have gotten scoring from Markeith Browning and Demetrius Bowen, who combine for 20 points per game. South Cobb plays Brunswick and Bainbridge.

Bainbridge (4-10) has had a tough start to the year, but have a blowout victory over Cairo to their credit. Deunta Gardner and Jordan Brown have been among the Bearcats’ best players.

Wayne County and Valdosta are the three other boys teams competing. Tift has split games with Valdosta this year. Wayne is 5-6 and have also beaten Valdosta. Valdosta is 4-6.

Besides the boys games, there will be four girls games during the McDonald’s Invitational: two Thursday and two Friday.

Tift County (8-3) faces Ware County at 2:30 p.m. Thursday and Maynard Jackson at 1 p.m. Friday. The Lady Devils were originally to face Pelham on the first day of action, but the Lady Hornets opted not to play at TCHS this year.

Ware has victories over Brunswick and Coffee so far this season. Maynard Jackson is 7-2, after a 7-0 start.

Jackson will face Warner Robins in the McDonald’s opening game Thursday at 1 p.m. The Lady Demons have terrorized mid-Georgia over the first two months of the year and already have three victories over Jones County. Warner Robins and Ware square off at 11:30 p.m. Friday.

There will be no girls games on the final day of the tournament. The Lady Devils will instead play at Ashburn as part of the Ronalda Pierce Invitational.

Despite the tough start for the Blue Devils in 2017, Wade said his squad has not been discouraged.

In their latest outing against Newton, the Devils led 23-22 at halftime, but ultimately fell, 67-45.

“We played extremely well,” he said. “We had a couple of silly turnovers.”

The turnovers and a need to foul at the end of the game enabled Newton to walk away with the win.

Wade has yet to have his full lineup on the floor for a game. Jatorian Warren was missing against Newton and he won’t have Rashod Bateman for part of the McDonald’s Invitational because of postseason all-star football games.

“Getting everybody acclimated to playing together,” he said was one of the biggest goals. He expects to have that by the time the region schedule gets rolling.

Despite a lack of height, the Devils have been getting big-game performances from several players, including Montavious Terrell. Terrell has been the squad’s leading scorer and Tift’s most steady player. Warren, Marquavious Johnson, Michael Graydon, J.J. McClain and C.J. Copeland have all been key players.

Schedule of games

Thursday

1 p.m. Maynard Jackson vs. Warner Robins (girls)

2:30 p.m. Tift County vs. Ware County (girls)

4 p.m. Maynard Jackson vs. Monroe (boys)

5:30 p.m. South Cobb vs. Brunswick (boys)

7 p.m. Bainbridge vs. Wayne County (boys)

8:30 p.m. Tift County vs. Berrien (boys)

Friday

11:30 a.m. Warner Robins vs. Ware County (girls)

1 p.m. Tift County vs. Maynard Jackson (girls)

2:30 p.m. South Cobb vs. Bainbridge (boys)

4 p.m. Valdosta vs. Bartow, Fla. (boys)

5:30 p.m. Brunswick vs. Lake Minneola, Fla. (boys)

7 p.m. Monroe vs. Rome

8:30 p.m. Tift County vs. Maynard Jackson (boys)

Saturday

1 p.m. South Cobb vs. Lake Minneola (boys)

2:30 p.m. Monroe vs. Bartow (boys)

4 p.m. Valdosta vs. Maynard Jackson (boys)

5:30 p.m. Tift County vs. Brunswick (boys)