McDowell High School will conduct a public lottery Jan. 18 for tickets to the Cathedral Prep-McDowell basketball game at 7:30 p.m. Jan. 24. No tickets will be available at the door on game day, and no passes will be honored.
McDowell is in its first season of playing region games at its on-campus Paul Goll Gymnasium instead of at the longtime Metro and region showplace, the 3,000-seat Hammermill Center.
McDowell associate athletic director Brian Fuller said last year that Goll Gymnasium has a capacity of between 1,500 and 1,900. A District 10 official said playoff games played there in the past had ticket caps of around 1,300.
From 1-3 p.m. Sunday in the McDowell front lobby, the general public can register to reserve as many as two tickets. The lottery will be conducted that night, with the names of the recipients posted Monday at 8 a.m. on the front doors of McDowell.
Those on the list will be able to purchase tickets Jan. 23 from 3-6 p.m. in the McDowell lobby. The lottery is for all members of the public including Millcreek senior citizens with gold cards and Millcreek staff and faculty.
The game will be televised on Erie County Channel 8 for Time Warner Cable subscribers. An inaugural Fan Frenzy also will be offered from 6:30-9:30 in McDowell's south gym, where the game will be shown on a large screen. Admission of $5 also includes a t-shirt, food and refreshments and other activities. Tickets will be available from 7 a.m. to 2 p.m. starting Wednesday and lasting until game day.
For information, call the McDowell athletic office at 835-5428.