South Dakota's longest running, continuous invitational boys basketball tournament turns another year older today when the 40th annual Jones County Invitational tips off at Murdo.

Action begins at 1 p.m. CST, when two-time defending champion White River takes on Colome. Lyman and Stanley County play at 2:30 p.m. Bennett County and Kadoka Area open the evening session at 6:30 p.m. Invitational host Jones County and Philip follow at 8 p.m.

Kelcy Nash, editor of the Murdo Coyote and a tournament organizer, said the invitational becomes the talk of the town of 450, especially after the pairings are released for the eight-team tournament.

"People talk about the tournament months ahead of time," Nash, who also does color commentary for KWYR, said.

"They wait for the brackets to be released. When they are, it's the talk of the town. Who should come away with it and who should be the favorite."

And the atmosphere inside the Murdo Auditorium - or the Murdome, as KWYR announcers have dubbed it - is one of a kind.

The auditorium seats about 1,000 fans that pack in shoulder to shoulder in the stands. The player benches are a row removed from fans. It's a throwback setting, almost like a scene straight out of the movie "Hoosiers," as fans scramble for seats and players deal with an atmosphere that is both intimate and, at times, rowdy.

"It gets packed, and you get to know your neighbor," Nash said.

White River head coach Eldon Marshall said the venue and fans are a part of what makes this invitational special.

"It's a smaller gym, and people pack in there to see the games. It can get loud in there pretty quick," said Marshall, whose Tigers are trying to become only the third team to win the invitational title for the third straight year.

"That's the kind of surroundings our guys need to be a part of. A little tension, a little pressure … you only get better because of it."

The tournament got its start in 1969 after Three River Conference officials decided not to hold a conference tournament because of the frequency teams from the league would play each other each year.

That decision prompted Maurice Haugland, Jerald Applebee and Harold Thune in 1969 to start the Murdo Invitational, an eight-team tournament to be played each January. It became the Jones County Invitational in 1979 after area schools consolidated and has been a fixture ever since for basketball fans in the heart of the state.

Many within the community are involved in the three-day affair.

Members of the local Lions Club are busy taking tickets, volunteers man the concession stands and students from Jones County hold a taco sale on Friday. Nash said about 800 tacos were sold last year.

"That's a lot of tacos," she said. "There are so many behind-the-scenes things that you don't think about. The community definitely gets involved."

Play begins today and runs through Saturday. The tournament championship begins at 8 p.m. CST on Saturday.