Estevan and Weyburn's high school basketball teams are facing off this week for the first of two matchups of the 87th annual McLeod series.

Last year's games were canceled after both teams received a series of harassing messages and threats during the lead-up.

Now the two teams are back in action with the Estevan boy's team Head Coach Trevor Dutka saying the anticipation's rising.

"This year, a lot of people looking forward to it and there's always been a big rivalry between Estevan and Weyburn, but it's always in good fun and the boys have a lot of friends in Weyburn and vice versa. So I think everyone's looking forward to it."

Weyburn took the previous series back in 2022, so Dutka says they're hoping previous wins this season are getting them prepared.

"We've been practicing hard, we had a really good tournament in Moose Jaw on the weekend. We went three and one and the boys definitely played really well, so we've got a couple practices here. We look forward to playing Wednesday and then we're back in Weyburn the following Wednesday."

Wednesday's games start at 5:30 for the boys with the girls following shortly after, both hosted at the Estevan Comprehensive School.

The boys and girls teams will face their Weyburn counterparts again on February 14th in Weyburn.