On an eight-game winning streak and with one tournament title already in the bag, 12th-ranked John Tyler will be looking for another trophy before the end of the year.

The Lady Lions are among the favorites at the Macy Chenevert Patriot Holiday Tournament, which begins Monday and runs through Wednesday.

In all, 20 games will be played over three days, eight of which will be at UT Tyler’s Herrington Patriot Center and 12 at Bishop Gorman’s Haddad Gym.

Lady Crusaders coach Raef Wall sees a lot of similar teams in this year’s field, but the Lady Lions (16-3) stand out. JT opens the tournament at 9:30 a.m. today against defending runners-up Pleasant Grove at HPC.

“John Tyler this year is a really good team,” Wall said. “It’s going to be hard for anybody to knock them off.

“First game right out of the box though are two really talented teams, John Tyler and Pleasant Grove. That should be a fun one, if you can get to a game you need to go see that one.”

Other first-round matchups include the tournament opener between Tatum and Chapel Hill at 8 a.m. from HPC, New Boston-Grace Community, Bullard-Wills Point, Kilgore-Gorman and Mineola-Gilmer.

The 12-team tournament concludes Wednesday morning with the championship game slated for 9:30 a.m. at HPC.

Coach Robert Cochran won the last two tournaments but is not participating this year. He first won with Liberty-Eylau and repeated the feat with Texas High last year, the Lady Tigers defeating Pleasant Grove the final behind 18 points and 13 rebounds from tournament MVP Jalissa Trotter.

John Tyler took sixth in the 2013 tournament, but hasn’t lost since Dec. 6 in the Silver Bracket final at the Georgetown Jack Frost Invitational.

Though the tournament tips off days after Christmas after most teams have at least a full week off, Wall said the tournament should be entertaining to watch.

“There’s a lot of very, very fast, athletic, scrappy teams,” Wall said. “It should be very competitive, very up-tempo, very competitive as far as fast transition, fast-break basketball.

“You’re not going to see many teams walk it up and calling offenses. It’s going to be get it out and go.”

The tournament is named after Macy Chenevert, a former Gorman student who led her eighth grade team in scoring despite going through chemotherapy and radiation treatments for cancer. Chenevert passed away in 2005 at the age of 14.

It’s a story that has resonated with Wall, who’s in his first year at Gorman.

“Literally the first day, everybody said we’re glad you’re here, have you heard the Macy Chenevert story,” Wall said. “So it became pretty important pretty quick.

“I’m excited about it. I want to make the tournament as big as possible. I think it’s a great message.”

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2014 Macy Chenevert Patriot Holiday Tournament

Games at UT Tyler’s Herrington Patriot Center (UTT) and Bishop Gorman’s Haddad Gym (BG)

Monday, Dec. 29

Game 1: Tatum vs. Chapel Hill, 8 a.m. (UTT)

Game 2: John Tyler vs. Pleasant Grove, 9:30 a.m. (UTT)

Game 3: New Boston vs. Grace Community, 9 a.m. (BG)

Game 4: Bullard vs. Wills Point, 10:30 a.m. (BG)

Game 5: Kilgore vs. Bishop Gorman, noon (BG)

Game 6: Mineola vs. Gilmer, 1:30 p.m. (BG)

Game 7: Loser Game 1 vs. Loser Game 2, 5 p.m. (BG)

Game 8: Loser Game 4 vs. Loser Game 5, 6:30 p.m. (BG)

Game 9: Winner Game 1 vs. Winner Game 2, 7 p.m. (UTT)

Game 10: Winner Game 4 vs. Winner Game 5, 8:30 p.m. (UTT)

Tuesday, Dec. 30

Game 11: Winner Game 9 vs. Winner Game 3, 8 a.m. (UTT)

Game 12: Winner Game 10 vs. Winner Game 6, 10 a.m. (UTT)

Game 13: Winner Game 7 vs. Loser Game 3, 11 a.m. (BG)

Game 14: Winner Game 8 vs. Loser Game 6, 1:30 p.m. (BG)

Game 15: Loser Game 7 vs. Loser Game 8, 5:30 p.m. (BG)

Game 16: Loser Game 9 vs. Loser Game 10, 7 p.m. (BG)

Wednesday, Dec. 31

Game 17, Consolation Final: Winner Game 13 vs. Winner Game 14, 11 a.m. (BG)

Game 18, Third Place: Loser Game 11 vs. Loser Game 12, 8 a.m. (UTT)

Game 19: Loser Game 13 vs. Loser Game 14, 9:30 a.m. (BG)

Game 20, Championship: Winner Game 11 vs. Winner Game 12, 9:30 a.m. (UTT)