Arizona schools flock once again to the 23rd Annual Nike Tournament of Champions Girls Basketball Invite set to begin Wednesday Dec. 18 and continue through the finals on Saturday Dec. 21 at five Tempe Union High School District schools.

This year 29 schools from the state are part of the 94-team field encompassing seven brackets - five of them 16-team brackets. The list of Arizona schools competing are led by three defending Arizona basketball conference champions - 5A Millennium, 6A Hamilton and 4A Shadow Mountain. Also entered are top conference contenders 6A Perry, 6A Valley Vista, 6A Pinnacle, 6A Chandler, 5A Casteel, 4A Seton Catholic and 3A Sabino.

Millennium (6-1) competes in the Joe Smith bracket - the tournament's elite bracket. Eight schools in the latest MaxPreps Top 25 national; girls basketball rankings are competing in the bracket. The next highest bracket -- John Anderson - houses Hamilton (8-2), Valley Vista (7-1), Sabino (11-0) and Perry (5-0). Next is the Mike Desper bracket containing Seton (6-0), Shadow Mountain (10-1), Pinnacle (6-2), Chandler (11-1) and Chaparral (7-3). Westwood (9-1), Mesquite (6-5), Desert Vista (5-3), and Casteel (6-1) are part of the Derrill Kipp bracket.

The venues are Corona del Sol, Desert Vista, Marcos de Niza, Mountain Pointe and Tempe high schools. Below are Arizona schools participating with their first game, bracket, time, venue and opponent on Wednesday Dec. 18:

JOE SMITH BRACKET (elite): Millennium, 1st game vs. Riverdale Baptist (MD), 4:30 p.m. at Desert Vista. JOHN ANDERSON BRACKET: Hamilton, 1st game v. Bishop O'Dowd (CA) at 4:30 p.m. at Mountain Pointe; Valley Vista, 1st game vs. St. Mary's Stockton (CA) at 6 p.m. at Mountain Pointe; Sabino, 1st game vs. Elizabeth Seton (MD) at 6 p.m. at Mountain Pointe; Perry, 1st game vs. Fremont (UT) at 4:30 p.m. at Mountain Pointe. MiKE DESPER BRACKET: Pinnacle, 1st game vs. Cathedral Catholic (CA) at 3 p.m. at Mountain Pointe; Seton Catholic, 1st game vs. Highlands Ranch (CO) at 4:30 p.m. at Corona del Sol; Shadow Mountain, 1st game vs. Salesian College Prep at 4:30 p.m at Corona del Sol; Chandler, 1st game vs. Mountainside OR) at 6 p.m. at Corona del Sol; Chaparral, 1st game vs. Lynwood (CA) at 6 p.m.  at Corona del Sol. DERRILL KIPP BRACKET: Mountain Pointe, 1st game vs. Huntington Beach (CA) at 1:30 p.m. at Corona del Sol; Mesquite, 1st game vs. Carondelet (CA) at 3 p.m. at Tempe; Westwood, 1st game vs. Caruthers (CA) at noon at Corona del Sol; Desert Vista, 1st game vs. Faith Lutheran (NV) at 4:30 p.m. at Tempe; Casteel, 1st game vs. Mountain Vista (CO) at 4:30 p.m. at Tempe; Highland, 1st game vs. Sacramento (CA) at 6 p.m. at Tempe; Gilbert, 1st game vs. Marlborough School (CA) at 6 p.m. at Tempe; Verrado, 1st game vs. Kings-Edgehill (CAN) at 3 p.m. at Corona del Sol. DAN WILEY BRACKET: Desert Ridge, 1st game vs. St. Paul (CA) at 4:30 p.m. at Marcos de Niza; Desert Mountain, 1st game vs. West Campus (CA) at 3 p.m. at Marcos de Niza; Boulder Creek, 1st game vs. Columbine (CO) at 3 p.m. at Marcos de Niza; Basha, 1st game vs. St. Francis Catholic (CA) at Noon at Marcos de Niza; Campo Verde, 1st game vs.Capuchino (CA) at Noon at Tempe; Red Mountain, 1st game vs. Oregon City (OR) at 1:30 p.m at Tempe; Cactus Shadows, 1st game vs. El Cajon Christian (CA) at 3 p.m. at Tempe. KIRK POINTER BRACKET: Marcos de Niza, 1st game vs. Warren (CA) at 1:30 p.m. at Marcos de Niza; Corona del Sol, 1st game vs. Omaha Northwest (NE) at Noon; Tempe High, 1st game vs. Poudre (CO) at Noon at Marcos de Niza; McClintock, 1st game vs. Morgan (UT) at 1:30 p.m. at Marcos de Niza.