ODELL - For the first time ever, one of Nebraska’s oldest high school tournaments will hold an all-star game.

The MUDECAS basketball tournament in southeast Nebraska is over 90 years old and will honor seniors with an all-star game this weekend, as well as raise funds for the MUDECAS foundation. Diller-Odell Public School Superintendent Mike Meyerle came up with the idea, as Diller-Odell will host the games.

“Seems like, the last few years we’ve been a bit more strapped for cash at times,” Meyerle said. “Schools have been having to kick in some dues, which is fine, but I thought we surely have another way to make some money so I came up with this idea of the all star game.

Meyerle says the southeast Nebraska based company of Diode Technologies will sponsor the event.

“That gave us the ability to get t-shirts for the kids, pizza for the kids, take care of some expenses,” Meyerle said. “My goal is to make $2500-$3000 for the event, that would be great. We have some stuff going on during the game, hopefully people have a good time.”

The game comes with good timing as four total MUDECAS teams have won state championships over the last two weeks.

“We had three in boys basketball, Freeman in C-2, Johnson-Brock in D-1 and Parkview Christian in D-2.. And then Falls City Sacred Heart in girls in D-2. That’s a lot of success in one association of 16 teams,” Meyerle said. “It’s a wide variety of classes, it’s a great way to end the season, showcase a lot of players and coaches who had a lot of success.”

Meyerle explained that coaches were chosen based off success in this years MUDECAS tournament as championship coaches are head coaches, while runner-up’s serve as assistants. Meyerle and the coaches had a draft of players in February.

“Let’s say you took an individual from Sterling, that means any other players from Sterling would be on the same team,” Meyerle said. “We wanted to keep the kids from the same schools on the same teams for continuity since it’s so close after the end of the season.”

The girls game begins at 4:30 and the boys at 6:15, both on Saturday night at Diller-Odell High School.