High school basketball will return to the Jaffa Shrine Center this weekend as three Blair County teams and a powerhouse program from Maryland are set to play in the historic arena.

Bishop Guilfoyle Catholic will play in all four games, starting with a junior varsity girls game at noon on Saturday against Tyrone. The varsity girls will follow at 1:30 p.m. The boys junior varsity game pitting BG against Shabach Christian Academy out of Landover, Md. will tip at 3 p.m., and the varsity game will follow at 4:30 p.m.

Tickets will be available at the door.

“I think it’s great for the community and great for the history of Jaffa,” Jaffa event manager Daniel Ramsey said. “We have had anywhere from Saint Francis to Altoona High games to local community games. Everyone in Altoona knows the Jaffa and what it stands for.”

Bishop Guilfoyle played in a boys-girls doubleheader against Forest Hills at the Jaffa Shrine Center two years ago, but it will be a new experience for Tyrone girls basketball coach Luke Rhoades.

“Whenever (BG athletic director) Joe (Landolfi) asked if we would be interested in playing a game there, I thought it would be a great experience,” Rhoades said. “The venue has plenty of tradition. I remember the Chevy Shootout back in the day, the great Altoona teams, Guilfoyle teams, other teams coming in. I thought it would be an awesome opportunity for the girls to play in a historic arena.”

Tyrone and the Lady Marauders have both experienced ups and downs this season as the programs adjust to very talented classes of seniors graduating.

“I think they are a little bit like us, because we’re both young and still trying to find an identity,” Bishop Guilfoyle girls coach Kristi Kaack said. “I think it will be a good game, and I’m excited, because it’s a different opponent. We haven’t seen them since I have been here.”

Rhoades said he’s spoken to his players about the history of the Jaffa.

“Basketball has been out of the Jaffa for so long, the tradition is something these girls didn’t know about,” Rhoades said. “But it’s something we have talked to them about. They have the opportunity to take the floor where several great all-time players played. But even playing in a non-traditional high school gymnasium will be exciting.”

The Lady Eagles and BG will both be members of the same division of the Laurel Highlands Athletic Conference beginning in the 2023-2024 school year.

“The traditional of Guilfoyle basketball over the last 50 years is amazing,” Rhoades said. “Giving our young girls a chance to go up there and play is great. They will be a league foe starting next year, so it’s a good opportunity for the girls to see what it’s going to take to compete at the level they compete at.”

The boys game will be another challenging one for the Marauders, who knocked off previously unbeaten Johnstown last week. Shabach Christian has beaten teams from Texas, California, Virginia, Maryland and Pennsylvania and has already played more than 20 games in tournaments across the country.

“The team we are playing is outstanding,” Bishop Guilfoyle boys coach Chris Drenning said. “The kids are looking forward to the opportunity. It’s a chance to play at a unique venue that a lot of them haven’t played at, and I think the atmosphere will be really cool.”

Drenning was awe struck when BG played at the Jaffa two years ago.

“I didn’t grow up in Altoona, but I’ve heard all the stories about Maurice Stokes playing there and Saint Francis playing there,” Drenning said. “We played Forest Hills a couple years ago there, and that was the first time I had ever coached there. I just loved it. I loved the atmosphere and the building. It’s just so different. It’s a historic building where a lot of legendary players have played.”

And even if all the players don’t understand that history, the building itself seems to excite even the youngest players.

“Even when we do our elementary tournament, every kid looks up at the chandelier and is in awe of how big the arena is,” Ramsey said. “It’s certainly historic.”